The Hamilton Spectator: Council delays rollout of contentious ‘rain tax’
This article was originally published by the The Hamilton Spectator on December 11, 2025
By: Mac Christie
The implementation of the City of Hamilton’s contentious stormwater fee will be up to the next city council.
Councillors voted Wednesday to defer the fee — derided by critics as a “rain tax” — until Jan. 1, 2027, after the next municipal election. But that move would mean the city’s stormwater program would be fully funded by wastewater rates, which would see the city’s water rate budget jump from a planned 5.82 per cent hike to a 7.23 per cent increase next year.
The original staff-recommended increase for 2026 would have amounted to a $61.82 increase on the average bill, but councillors heard Wednesday the deferral would mean the hike would increase by another $16 or so, to $77.65 annually.
Coun. Mark Tadeson, who moved the motion, said following the vote he was pleased, calling the deferral a “prudent” and “wise” decision.
“I think it’s the right move for the city at this time,” he said, citing proposed provincial changes that would exempt farm properties from the fees.
However, Mayor Andrea Horwath told The Spectator she was “disappointed” with council’s decision to increase the water rate, noting the draft budget had provided in excess of a 40 per cent reduction in water rate bills. She added many councillors are concerned about the cost of everyday life and the proposed water rate budget would have reduced payments.
“I think that no matter how much the amount is, we have to do our best to try to give people a break,” she said.
Horwath, who with strong-mayor powers has 10 days to veto the water rate decision, said she plans to confer with staff regarding the new rate, but hasn’t made a decision yet on how she will proceed.
Council committed in 2023 to develop a separate fee for stormwater — the rain runoff from rooftops, parking lots and other hard surfaces that rushes into sewers and creeks — to help respond to rising infrastructure repair and flood costs linked to climate change. Under Hamilton’s now-deferred plan, a single-family residential rate was expected to be $201, but an offsetting drop in the regular wat…
Tadeson said he feels the increase to the water rate related to the deferral is “appropriate,” noting that amount is still lower than the originally forecast 10 per cent. He said in the big picture, the motion stabilizes water fees — but people will “pay a little more” for that stability.
He added if council adopted the stormwater fee and the proposed provincial change comes to fruition, the city’s water rate could increase “substantially.”
However, Coun. Alex Wilson noted from a fairness standpoint the current system means people connected to the built system pay for services that have a citywide impact. While he has heard concerns from residents, Wilson said the city has been working to implement the stormwater fee for a number of years — and the credits now provided would have lessened the impacts on many ratepayers.
He added it is inconsistent that some councillors have often said budgets need to decrease — but now the refrain is that the increase is only $16 — and that it had been slated to be 10 per cent.
Tadeson, who has made several failed motions to exempt rural property owners from the stormwater fee this term, said he remains concerned about the equity for rural residents. He added the 9,500 rural residents not connected to the city’s built stormwater infrastructure were “overlooked” in the process.
“Rural people need a vibrant economy in the city and this helps establish it and stabilize it for one more year while we face these turbulent times,” he said. “I will work to get the best deal I can for the rural residents.”
Coun. Craig Cassar, speaking in opposition, noted the fee is meant to create a stable source of stormwater funding, adding council has been at the process for several years and the stormwater fee is a “fair process” based on permeable surfaces.
Coun. Brad Clark said he would support the motion — which would see the decision on the future of the fee a decision of the next council — in part because he feels residents did not have an adequate chance to consult on the stormwater fee.
“If that council in the future wants to change it, so be it.”
While several councillors mentioned concerns that the transition of billing from Alectra Utilities would cause a delay in the implementation, Clayton Pereira, the city’s director of revenue services, said city staff is “progressing as planned” and there is no concern about the implementation of bringing water billing in-house — something that is slated to take place March 31.
