Hamilton approves enhanced sidewalk snow clearing, but questions remain about who will pay the cost

Hamilton's rural residents don't receive transit service, nor do most of the agricultural area roads have sidewalks.

Yet they may have to join their urban cousins in paying $4.4 million for enhanced" sidewalk snow clearing service that they don't want, said Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson.

I'm just puzzled by this," said Ferguson. How do I explain this to my constituents?"

Hamilton councillors had agreed to remove snow from an additional 783 km of sidewalks along transit routes back in April in a 9-6 vote. The enhanced service, which will cost an extra $2.3 million, will begin for the 2022/23 winter season.

Ward 3 Coun. Nrinder Nann said the additional sidewalk snow clearing will enable access for all residents of the city, including mothers with carriages, seniors and people with physical challenges.

At its core it speaks to equity and action," she said.

At their Nov. 24 meeting, council agreed to a five-year, $3.1-million contract with low bidder Forest Ridge Landscaping Inc. to provide the sidewalk snow clearing starting in the 2022 winter season. According to finance staff, rural residents could see anywhere from a $6 tax increase in 2021 to up to $8 in 2023, depending upon which area-rating option councillors agree to, even though the majority of those homeowners don't have sidewalks.

Finance staff project the tax impact for all residents for the city to provide the service will be about 0.1 per cent. However, because of area rating and assessment rates that vary across the city, a resident in Ward 1 could pay an additional $5 in 2022 and $6 in 2023, while in Ward 4, the tax increase is estimated to be $3 in 2022 and 2023. But for Ancaster residents, they could receive a $3 tax cut in the first year, but an $8 increase in 2023, while Ward 15 will see a $6 increase in 2022 and $8 in 2023.

But as Ferguson pointed out, Ancaster residents have been paying for about 102 km of sidewalk snow clearing since before amalgamation. The cost for providing the service in 2021 was about $155,000. The enhanced snow clearing will mean about two extra kilometres of sidewalk in Ancaster's urban and rural areas in Ward 12.

I'm just puzzled," said Ferguson. It is an increase. We are already paying for it."

Ferguson also pointed out that rural residents will still be paying for higher area-rating costs for rural fire service that was approved in 2021 that caught councillors off-guard during last year's budget discussions.

That is a significant increase just in the rural areas for 2022," he said.

Mike Zegarac, corporate services general manager, cautioned that the area-rating financial projections for the additional service has not been finalized yet. He said the preliminary area-rating numbers that were presented to staff earlier were for "illustrated purposes" only.

He said finance staff will be providing a report with financial options to councillors to review in January 2022.

The methodologies will come before committee and council (in the new year)," he said. We will continue to evaluate the service as it relates to area rating."