The Carpenters District Council of Ontario has thrown its support behind Toronto Mayor John Tory’s controversial proposal to raise the city’s infrastructure funding levy by one percentage point.

Calling the funding “badly needed,” the council applauded the mayor’s commitment and desire to deliver on his promise to build key infrastructure.

"Moving the City of Toronto forward for our children, our grandchildren and ourselves should not be a political football," said Mike Yorke, president of the Carpenters District Council Ontario. “Tough, bold decisions have to be made.”

Mayor Tory proposed a one-percentage point increase to the City Building Fund (which currently stands at 0.5 percent) in November. The additional levy would be applied to the city’s 2020 and 2021 taxation years.

“By approving an increase in this levy, which I will propose to the council, one percent more, and extending it over the next five years, we can raise needed funds that will be dedicated to improving our existing transit system and building more affordable housing across our city,” Tory said when he announced the proposal. He added that he expects the increase will cost the average Toronto household $43 more a year.

The additional funds raised by the levy would go to support Toronto’s new 10-year, $23.4 billion action plan that would build more affordable housing in the city, and maintain Toronto Transit Commission facilities.

“It will help raise the approximately $5 billion we need to invest in new subways, new subway signal systems, new streetcars, and station upgrades as part of the almost $30-billion transit agreement with the province,” Tory said.

It’s for precisely these reasons, says Yorke, that the union supports the additional levy.

“What makes this special is the fact these new funds are dedicated for transit and affordable housing—and won't get swallowed up in other city budgets in what is termed ‘general revenue’," he said. "These new city infrastructure funds are clearly earmarked so that residents—and the rest of the province—can see real, concrete results.”

In addition to funding the city's badly needed transit and repairs, an independent study on affordable housing from Toronto developer Greenwin Inc. shows that affordable housing creates direct dividends in both healthcare cost savings, where some people regularly use emergency wards as a form of shelter, and policing, where jails often house the effects of the under-housed and homeless.

"Infrastructure investment creates a ripple effect and is a win-win for jobs, the economy, and the city," says Yorke.

Tory’s proposal will be discussed on December 17 at Toronto’s next council meeting.