Toronto city council last night okayed new taxes on land transfers and personal vehicles. But Councillor Shelley Carroll, who oversees an annual budget that was set at $7.8 billion last year and is larger than most provinces, said the hard work is just beginning.

"We've made the leap now from a city that's still mired in basically whining about its amalgamation to developing the formula that successful cities enjoy," she said. "We came of age today, and we've asked a lot of our citizens. But the hard work is just beginning."

Miller suffered a blow in July when council voted to defer consideration of both taxes. The interim period was filled with headlines about community centre and library closings and delayed opening of ice rinks, the latter move that was avoided only when MasterCard came to the rescue with a $160,000 bailout.

Miller worked hard to get the new taxes approved, lobbying councillors right up until the time of the vote. A "no" vote would've been widely seen as a lack of confidence in the leadership of a man who handily won last fall's municipal election. But in the end, council fell in line by a 26-19 margin on the land transfer tax and approved a vehicle registry tax by a 25-20 tally. Continued...