Hamilton residents will see 5.6% tax increase after councillors' last-ditch efforts to trim budget

Hamilton council will stick with a 5.6 per cent tax increase after councillors unsuccessfully made last-ditch efforts to trim the city budget Wednesday. 

Some councillors eyed city spending related to the Hamilton light rail transit (LRT), bike lanes, climate change, tenant protections and the police service.

Coun. Matt Francis was behind the motion to cut spending that would expedite the creation of bike lanes, an initiative which he had previously opposed. 

"We can't stick our heads in the sand by doing the same things in the face of unprecedented economic threats," Francis said, appearing to refer to the U.S. tariff threats. 

Other councillors like Craig Cassar voiced their support for the budget and 5.6 per cent tax increase.

"There's many challenges in our country and significant impacts on residents and businesses," said Cassar. "We as a body here are trying to do our best to do a budget that is going to reflect those needs as well as the needs to build our city." 

This year's budget process was different than in previous years when council would vote to accept or reject different parts of the city's budget. 

For the 2025 budget, Mayor Andrea Horwath used her strong mayor powers to put forward a budget with input from staff that initially saw a 6.3 per cent increase. Councillors then weighed in by pitching changes that could expand or limit spending. 

A series of meetings whittled the budget down to Wednesday's final 5.6 per cent. 

Light rail transit spending discussed

Coun. Tom Jackson proposed deferring city spending on the forthcoming LRT project until provincial agency Metrolinx finalizes its business case and the federal government follows through on its funding commitment.

The upper levels of government agreed to split the $3.4 billion price tag in 2021. 

The city plans to spend $6 million this year to build its own transit infrastructure to link to the future LRT. 

"Why don't we at least wait before going forward with these enabling projects?" Jackson asked council. 

He voiced skepticism that with an election coming up, the federal government will actually fund the project. He also said he keeps hearing the $3.4 billion will no longer be enough to cover the costs given inflation. 

But staff said they'd be building some of this infrastructure regardless of the LRT. 

Metrolinx said in a statement to CBC Hamilton the project is going ahead and early work is already complete or ongoing, including demolitions and utility relocations. The final cost and construction timeline have yet to be set. 

Jackson's motion was defeated in a 5-11 vote. 

Climate change reserve, tenant protections looked at

Coun. Esther Pauls looked to offset the budget by taking $2.5 million from the climate change action strategy reserve. 

"If we don't find ways to reduce this budget, I believe we will create increased homelessness," said Pauls. "Also, we'll increase more stress and financial burden to our residents."  

Coun. Craig Cassar urged council to keep the money going toward climate change initiatives, as council declared a climate emergency in 2019. 

Pauls' motion was defeated 5-11. 

Francis put forward the motion to cut $1.3 million for bike lanes, which was defeated 6-10. 

Coun. Tom Jackson tried to reconsider hiring 16 new full-time employees to enforce the safe apartment bylaw for renters, approved last year. Council decided to leave that decision in tact by voting down Jackson's motion 8-7, with Horwath abstaining due to a conflict of interest. 

In a 2-14 vote, council also rejected the idea of reducing the police budget by about $12 million. The idea was proposed by Coun. Cameron Kroetsch and Coun. Alex Wilson at a previous committee meeting, and was defeated there too.