The average property tax increase in 2024 was already 5.79 per cent. Pictured: Hamilton City Hall. Photo Credit: City of Hamilton/X.
As the City of Hamilton moves into budget season, a staff report projects that the preliminary increase for the 2025 net levy is $102.9 million, which would result in an average property tax increase of 6.9 per cent next year.
The same report also predicts a 6.8 per cent property tax increase in 2026 and a 6.0 per cent increase in 2027, meaning a 19.7 per cent total tax increase for Hamilton residents over the next three years.
The average property tax increase in 2024 was already 5.79 per cent (approximately $286 more per household).
However, in 2024, city spending actually increased by 19.5 per cent, with the tax increase kept lower than that only through the use of deferrals and reserves.
Staff also project a 9.95 per cent combined increase for water and wastewater fees in the Rate Supported Budget for 2025.
Between 2024 and 2034, the city says that capital investments in water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure are forecasted at $4.53 billion.
The staff report explains that tax increases are needed since the City of Hamilton is attempting to address “increasingly complex challenges, such as tackling homelessness and climate change.”
Of the projected 6.8 per cent property tax increase, staff calculates that Reducing Homelessness and Managing Encampments accounts for 0.3 percentage points in that increase, a new 911 call centre at Waterdown Station accounts for 0.2, Council’s decision to convert Main Street to two-way traffic accounts for 0.2, a Central Reporting Station for Paramedics accounts for 0.2, and the new Macassa Lodge B-Wing also accounts for 0.2.
The forecast capital financing increase for 2025, to help address items such as the city’s aging infrastructure, is $41.7 million, which represents 3.61 percentage points of the property tax increase.
However, staff note that “the full financial impact of the cybersecurity incident recovery is not yet included in this outlook,” meaning that taxes could end up increasing even higher.
From February 2024 to June 2024 (four months), the city had already spent $5.7 million on the city’s cyber recovery and a report stated that they plan to spend another $33.6 million over the next eight years to strengthen the municipality’s cybersecurity.
It should be noted that the $5.7 million has already been covered through the 2024 budget.
According to the report, the City of Hamilton’s Healthy and Safe Communities Department would see the largest budget increase, going up 10.9 per cent from about $332 million to just over $368.1 million.
The Planning and Economic Development Department would see an 8.3 per cent budget increase from $35.5 million to $38.5 million.
Meanwhile, the Hamilton Police Service (HPS) will be asking for a 6.2 per cent increase to their budget from $207.5 million to $220.3 million after an 8.4 per cent increase in 2024.
This would take the HPS budget from about $207.5 million to $220.3 million.
In other budget news, Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath issued a directive appointing Councillor Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale) as budget committee chair and Councillor John-Paul Danko (Ward 8 – West/Central Mountain) as vice-chair.
Budget committee meetings begin on Monday, Nov. 18, with final approval of the budget expected in mid-February.
The city also announced that they will be expanding their resident budget engagement process this year by launching a dedicated webpage that will feature an “interactive budget tool to engage Hamiltonians and help them identify their priorities during the budget process.”
Hamilton’s Vacant Unit Tax is also coming into effect in 2025. More information on that tax can be found here.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
