Hamilton stormwater tax debate will wait until election year
Council's next chance to debate a contentious, long-studied stormwater tax on paved properties is just six months before the next election.
Dedicated stormwater programs charge a fee - critics derisively call it a rain tax" - to property owners based on the amount of hard surfaces like roofs and parking lots that directly funnel rain into the sewer.
Hamilton councillors looked at the idea as far back as 2009, rejected it in 2015 but revisited the debate once again in 2019 over flooding concerns fuelled by climate change. Progress ground to a halt again during the COVID pandemic.
On Monday, the on-again, off-again study was resurrected after acting water director Nick Winters estimated the city faces a significant gap" - up to $14 million annually - in money that should be spent shoring up aging infrastructure and flood protection for residents.
The public works committee endorsed a motion from Coun. John-Paul Danko asking water department staff to recommend by next March how to cover that spending gap. A report will come back just six months before the next municipal vote looking at options like relying on the existing water rate budget, hiking property taxes or imposing dedicated stormwater fees.
Danko acknowledged in an interview the latter idea faces ongoing sensitivity" from residents and business owners who view the fee as a potentially unfair tax. He argued such a fee should shift the cost" of dealing with huge storm flows from residents to owners of large parking lots.
We need to be able to show average residents it is not a rain tax on them, but a user-pay system," the Mountain councillor said, adding he was hopeful the requested report would lay out the implications for residents.
I think there is a growing understanding about how stormwater affects our communities, because more residents have seen flooding in their neighbourhoods, or the overflows into Cootes (Paradise)."
Winters noted the city was unprepared for the ferocity of specific extreme events" - like a deluge in Dundas in 2017 and an even worse storm in Binbrook in 2012 - that caused mass flooding for residents.
Several other large GTA cities have adopted versions of stormwater taxes in recent years that provide incentives to landowners or businesses that deal with stormwater on-site or boast features like permeable pavement and green roofs.
Coun. Tom Jackson said during the meeting he has been reluctant" in the past to consider a separate storm fee out of concern for the impact on small businesses with parking lots, but added he is also mindful of the growing climate change risk to failing infrastructure.
I'd like to see all the pros and cons," he said.
The latest direction comes after the city hiked 2022 water rates for all residential property owners by five per cent - and warned future hikes are needed to cover ballooning infrastructure costs.
But even if council wants to adopt a storm fee ahead of the fall election, don't expect to see a new tax on your bill before 2024.
Winters said city staff will provide a high-level" recommendation to council by March, but an entirely new fee or tax would likely require a consultant study first.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com