NEW: John Tory to stay mayor until the 2023 budget is passed, which could mean he remains in the job for weeks after announcing his resignation thestar.com/news/gta/2023/… By my understanding, Tory deciding to see the budget process out sets up a dilemma for council opponents who want him gone, thanks to the new strong mayor rules. A quick thread:

NEW: Tory will be presiding over the 2023 budget this Wednesday, budget chief Gary Crawford tells media. Crawford says he doesn’t know whether Tory is reconsidering his decision to resign.

As council votes on a shelter issue, a pair of residents holds up a banner that says “Fund homes not cops.” Security rips it from them and escorts them out. After a brief recess, council is debating proposed changes to CafeTO. Background here: thestar.com/news/gta/2023/…

City council is meeting today. After some procedural rigmarole, they're onto the mayor's first key item, which is a request for a report on new revenue tools. Background here: thestar.com/news/gta/2023/… City staff say revenue options they'll consider including taxes on parking, vacant store fronts, motor vehicle registrations, alcohol, and tobacco. They'll also look at graduated property taxes, municipal sale, income, and gas taxes.

Mayor says his remarks are going to be longer than usual. While asserting the budget he’s presenting today “protects frontline services,” Tory says “Toronto needs a new fiscal framework.” He says advocating for a more sustainable funding model for the city will be a focus of his in the coming weeks and months.

Mayor Tory's executive committee is set to debate changes to CafeTO this morning. As @alysanmati reported last week some restaurant owners say the changes, including an annual fee and a requirement to build an accessible platform, could kill the program. thestar.com/news/gta/2023/… Speaking on another issue, Tory says the city and province are still negotiating the terms of reference for an audit of city's development charge revenue. Province has promised to keep TO whole for lost dev. revenue as a result of its housing bill, pending results of the audit.

The Star has you covered on what was a busy budget day at city hall. Here's @alysanmati and @dmrider on how a historically high 7% property tax increase will still leave the city with a $933M shortfall in 2023 thestar.com/news/gta/2023/… Here's @alysanmati with a breakdown of what the budget will mean for average Torontonians, including paying a bit more for transit, water, and garbage pickup: thestar.com/news/gta/2023/…

From @dmrider and me: Doug Ford's "strong-mayor" plan would give Toronto's mayor a veto over council. But the new law says it could only be used to advance provincial priorities, which experts say could keep the city beholden to Queen's Park thestar.com/news/gta/2022/… Under the strong mayor law, the province would define its priorities through regulations. Aside from budget matters, the mayor could only use the veto if they thought it would advance the prescribed priority.

Exclusive in today's Star: Metrolinx appointed a private consultant to a VP role at the agency, and awarded his firm valuable government work while he was in the role thestar.com/news/investiga… Metrolinx says there was nothing improper about its relationship with the consultant, Brian Guest, or his firm, which is called Boxfish. The agency says it routinely appoints consultants to titles within the agency in order to make use of private sector expertise.

This is where there may or may not be fare gates installed. That will be up to TTC, which will operate the line when it’s done. If gates not installed, riders will pay before before boarding and be subject to fare inspection on vehicles. The train.

At Science Centre station at Eglinton and Don Mills for a media tour of the Crosstown LRT. We’re going to ride a vehicle, but line still a year away from opening. It was supposed to be operational in September, and even that was a deferred date. Station is 90% complete. Media all have to do rapid Covid test before tour can start. Crosslinx, the company building the line, has had a number of outbreaks over the course of the pandemic.

Noel Francis Chantiam bought the property next to King City GO station for $750,000 in 1999. Metrolinx has expropriated title to the land because it needs to expand the station. Its offer to Chantiam? Just $1. thestar.com/news/gta/2021/… According to court records, Metrolinx appraised Chantiam's property at $2.1M but determined it was contaminated and cleaning it up will cost more than that. Chantiam is fighting the expropriation, arguing Metrolinx has failed to make a good faith offer. thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…

Mayor Tory's executive committee now debating update on transit plans. As we reported last week, projected cost of already unfunded Eglinton East LRT has doubled, raising more doubts about the city's ability to complete the project thestar.com/news/gta/2020/… Coupled with the news @jpags reported this morning, that the Scarborough subway won't be complete before the Scarborough RT has to be shut down, and well, things aren't looking great for rapid transit in east Toronto thestar.com/news/city_hall…

ICYMI: TTC's 2021 service plan says agency will cut service from previously budgeted levels by about 3%, and continue on pandemic footing it established this year thestar.com/news/gta/2020/… That the TTC will continue operating pandemic-level service, which is currently about 95% of pre-crisis levels, may seem like ho-hum news. But transit agencies everywhere are facing financial crises, and other operators (esp. in US) have proposed crippling cuts.

‘I’ve never felt such heartbreak and anger’: Family mourns 23-year-old cyclist Alex Amaro, killed last week on Dufferin St. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/… Those who knew Alex Amaro say she was a kind, intelligent young woman with a magnetic personality. She was an internship away from a journalism degree and loved her job at a local flower shop. She had a bright future ahead of her. No one should have to die on Toronto's streets.

The TTC board is about to hold its third remote meeting of the pandemic. Items on the agenda include a plan to put bus lanes on Eglinton East, which I wrote about here: thestar.com/news/gta/2020/… The board will also consider a report that states the TTC is facing an uphill battle to make all its subway stations accessible by 2025, despite knowing of that deadline since 2005. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…

Metrolinx has released new business cases for the Scarborough subway extension and the Eglinton West LRT. They show both projects have costs that significantly outweigh their benefits, and by Metrolinx's own definition are not economically viable. Here is the Scarborough subway business case: metrolinx.com/en/regionalpla…

At TTC headquarters, where a meeting of the agency's audit committee is about to begin. Main attraction is dual reports on fare evasion, which I wrote about here: thestar.com/news/gta/2020/… Those reports spell out the TTC's plans to crack down on fare evasion. Days after they dropped fare inspectors were filmed in a violent confrontation with a streetcar rider. thestar.com/news/gta/2020/…

Reporters are up at the proposed site of the future Finch SmartTrack station this morning for a transit announcement involving all three levels of government. Governments are announcing federal funding for SmartTrack and Bloor-Yonge capacity improvements. Council had already nominated these projects for federal $ committed to transit, and earlier this year the province said it would support that, so this is not a surprise.

TTC board meeting is underway at city hall. You can follow along via Youtube here: The most notable item on the agenda is probably the update on Presto implementation, which says Metrolinx isn't living up to the fare card agreement and the TTC can't say when it will be able to phase out older forms of payment. thestar.com/news/gta/2019/…

Tory says "there’s an awful lot of questions that are outstanding about" the province's Ontario Line plan, and asserts the best way to get those answers is to stay at the table with the provincial government and continue to discuss the subway upload. Tory also says council will be making decisions about transit plans "over the next day or so." Not sure if it's what he meant, but might make sense to delay a vote until 2nd day of council so members can have some time to consider city manager advice, which we're still awaiting.