On July 16, 2007, Ootes voted with a majority of councillors (23-22) to defer voting on mayor Miller's proposed vehicle registration tax and land transfer tax until after the October 2007 provincial election. Ootes said this was a wakeup call to the city that citizens want more control of city spending. On October 22 council voted to support the new taxes (26-19). Ootes was among those who dissented. He argued that while his side lost the final vote, they had won the public opinion debate.