The Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada filed a request yesterday asking the City of Toronto to hold off on presenting a draft of a new sign bylaw and billboard tax.

OMAC requested that the City delay the presentation, scheduled to be delivered to the city’s Planning and Growth Committee Nov. 4, until December, to allow out-of-home media owners to present their own suggestions and concerns about proposed rule changes, which include an estimated $10.4 million in fees and taxes aimed at the industry.

OMAC said its members have not been adequately represented in discussions since the bylaw reform project began last year. Specifically, the organization points to its filing of three separate reports–which include its own recommendations on rules and enforcement–and two letters to Toronto mayor David Miller, all of which OMAC president Rosanne Caron said have been ignored by city officials.

“There have been a series of meetings, but there hasn’t been a real dialogue. It’s been them talking and us listening,” said Caron. “We haven’t had any response to the submissions that we sent to the city, nor to our recent letters as well. That’s a serious concern when you’re talking about a tax and new regulations that could potentially put the out-of-home industry out of business.”

Of particular concern to OMAC members are the proposed taxes and fees on the industry. OMAC claims the $10.4 million figure eclipses both the $8 million in total annual earnings claimed by its members and the $2.7 million recommended in a report commissioned by the city in 2007.

“There’s been no rationale and there’s been no discussion with us on this, no basis for it,” Caron said. “The door’s been shut on us and the city is moving forward with something that could put us out of business.”

Caron said OMAC has never received documents outlining the city’s economic rationale. She added that OMAC commissioned its own economic assessment in the spring and submitted it to city officials, but did not get a response.

However, Ann Borooah, chief building official and executive director, Toronto Building, said municipal officials have consulted extensively with the out-of-home advertising industry and have even incorporated many of their suggestions into the proposed bylaw.

“We have had discussions with them about their consultation documents,” said Borooah. “We’ve made a number of changes in response to comments made by the industry throughout the process.”

Borooah pointed to adjustments in the bylaw’s rules about separation distances (the required distance between signs or between signs and other structures), and sign illumination regulations as specific changes made as a result of consultation with the out-of-home industry.

Borooah also disagreed with OMAC’s contention that the proposed fees and taxes were not based on a solid economic foundation. She said the 2007 Hemson report, commissioned by the city, was based on incomplete information about the number and type of signs in the city.

“We were able to gather a fair amount of information to assess the types of signs in the city relative to the Hemson recommendations around rate of taxation to come up with the range of numbers we’re proposing,” said Borooah.

Borooah said she expected the presentation of the draft bylaw to go forward as planned Nov. 4.