Hamilton council wants to spend $30 million in federal funds on roads, sidewalks
City councillors plan to spread $30 million in expected federal funding equally among Hamilton's 15 wards to tackle road and sidewalk repairs.
These one-offs come about every once in a while from the federal government," Coun. Chad Collins said Monday. There's no shortage of road and sidewalk work that needs to be done in every single ward."
The $30 million is part of an expected $32.7 million in one-time infrastructure funding from the federal gas tax.
A strong majority backed Collins' call to distribute the $30 million among Hamilton's 15 wards.
But Coun. Maureen Wilson argued staff should analyze how to use such a large amount of funding through an asset-management lens presented during annual budget deliberations.
We need to look at the best return on our dollar, and we need to start acting like a single city, rather than 15 independent cities so that we give taxpayers the best rate of return when we do expend those dollars," she said.
Wilson added she didn't know whether to laugh or cry" about the motion, noting Hamilton will go to the polls in October 2022 as the city grapples with an infrastructure backlog of more than $3 billion.
Laugh because it is an expenditure of funds right in advance of a municipal election. Cry because it's this kind of practice that has aided and abetted ... a crisis where we find ourselves."
Likewise, Coun. John-Paul Danko questioned the arbitrary allotment" of $2 million per ward, noting a city auditor report later this week that's very specific" about the need for a roads spending plan based on tighter asset management.
This wouldn't be the first time council decided to dedicate a large infusion of government funding to a specific cause, Collins said, noting the mayor's $50-million, 10-year poverty-reduction fund, which was created in part by hydro dividends.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger said, as the one elected person responsible for the entire city," he supported the Ward 5 councillor's pitch.
So is there a right way to do this? It's never perfect."
Coun. Sam Merulla called Collins' motion exactly the remedy we need" to chip away" at the infrastructure backlog.
We should be looking at ways of expanding this, not limiting this."
Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com