City can't let Woodbine project slip through its fingers
Such circumstances are presenting themselves to city council this week in the form of a $120 million tax break proposal guaranteed to secure a new mega-development for Woodbine Racetrack.
Toronto's Economic Development Committee recommended approving the tax break last week for the massive Woodbine Live! entertainment complex - a project that is slated to bring 9,700 jobs and $1 billion in construction to the poverty-stricken area of northwest Etobicoke.
If city council follows suit and approves what would amount to the largest tax break in Toronto's history, it would be the first issued through the Tax Increment Equivalent Grant (TIEG), developed by the city earlier this year. Though the grant has rules excluding low-paying retail and hotel proposals, members of the economic development committee agreed they should be waived to help secure a project that promises to inject some life into a flat-lining economy.
"Apart from the tourism potential... the project will also be a catalyst in local transit improvements," lawyer Steve Diamond told the committee last week.
"The city's role is to merely delay the imposition of a tax regime, and it's important to remember that even in Year One, the city will generate an additional $4 million in taxes. The greater risk is not approving the request that is before you."
We agree the Woodbine project is not something the city should let slip through its fingers.
As home to three of Toronto's priority high-poverty neighbourhoods, Rexdale would greatly benefit from the job creation and tourism revenue sure to arrive once the cinemas, concert venues, restaurants, stores, an outdoor skating rink and a four-star hotel pop up on the Woodbine grounds. Offices and residential space are planned for the second phase of the project and Woodbine Live! developers have said they will make local hiring a priority.
Not everyone agrees the subsidy should be awarded. John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, said the development amounts to little more than "a high-end mall with entertainment" and said the TIEG should be reserved for projects that offer higher wages.
Yet, considering the economic plight of the mostly low-income residents in Rexdale and the fact that the community lost 7,500 jobs in the past five years, the city should take what they can get and be happy for it.
As of Guardian deadline, the city council decision was still unknown, but our fingers are crossed it will consider the best interests of residents desperately in need of an economic pick-me-up.
