Toronto and Calgary Will Keep Proceeds from GST Cut

Both Calgary and Toronto will not be passing on the Federal GST cut to their citizens in the form of lower program charges and etc.. The reasons given are slightly different, but both cities claim that the administrative costs are too onerous to make it worthwhile. From the TO Star:

To reduce the GST, the city would have to change billing systems, websites and printed publications to reflect the new, slightly lower fees, staff reported.

Also in both cases, the city promises to use any cash windfall to offset fee hikes next year.

We shall see.

If Toronto and Calgary decide that it is too expensive to pass the tax cut on, I suspect many smaller jurisdictions will discover the same thing and follow suit.

You know, they say that the Colorado River no longer flows to the sea, because American farmers keep pinching water along the way. I suspect we will see very much the same thing with our GST cut. There won't be much left by the time it reaches the consumer.