At Hamilton City Council’s budget amendment meeting on Feb. 13, further amendments were brought forward to Mayor Andrea Horwath’s budget, which was released on Jan. 23 and included a residential property tax increase of 4.25 per cent.
Multiple amendments were already made at the first budget amendment meeting on Feb. 6. Details on those amendments were included in a previous article in The Hamilton Independent, which can be read here.
MOTION 9.1 – GRASS CUTTING MITIGATION MEASURES
Horwath’s Mayoral Budget brought forward $105,000 in savings by reducing grass cutting on city land during off-peak growing periods and $156,000 in savings by eliminating grass cutting on city-owned and private property urban right-of-ways and boulevards.
Councillor Tom Jackson (Ward 6 – East Mountain) brought forward a motion to add both amounts back to the tax levy.
Motion (City Land – $105,000)
IN FAVOUR (7): Jackson, Francis, Clark, Cooper, Beattie, Spadafora, Pauls
AGAINST (9): McMeekin, M. Wilson, Cassar, Hwang, Tadeson, A. Wilson, Nann, Kroetsch, Horwath
Motion (Right-of-ways and Boulevards – $156,000)
IN FAVOUR (14): McMeekin, Cooper, Francis, Kroetsch, A. Wilson, Jackson, M. Wilson, Beattie, Cassar, Horwath, Hwang, Spadafora, Pauls, Clark
AGAINST (2): Nann, Tadeson
MOTION 9.2 – FREE COUNCIL MEALS
Councillor Brad Clark’s (Ward 9 – Upper Stoney Creek) motion to cease providing free meals to elected members and senior leadership as part of some Council meetings passed unanimously 15-0.
The dollar figure was amended to $26,777 in savings.
MOTION 9.3 – CONTINGENCY ALLOCATIONS
Councillor Mark Tadeson (Ward 11 – Glanbrook-Binbrook-Mount Hope) brought forward a motion to see contingency allocations for 2026 Planning and Economic Development Capital Projects reduced by three per cent, reducing the levy by $182,490.
The motion passed unanimously, 16-0.
MOTION 9.4 – BUDGET PROCESS AND EFFICIENCY REDUCTION
Councillor Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough) brought forward a motion to take $700,000 out of the levy, which is currently funding process improvement and efficiency projects, arguing that each project should be approved individually with a business case.
The motion passed 16-0.
MOTION 9.5 – DEFERRAL OF PORTION OF TRANSFER STATION / RECYCLING CENTRE MAINTENANCE AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM TO 2027
Councillor Tadeson proposed deferring $500,000 to the 2027 budget process, resulting in a 2026 Capital Levy reduction of $300,000 and a development charge reduction of $200,000 since the city’s infrastructure capital maintenance program work plan could be performed in early 2027 rather than in 2026.
The motion passed 15-1, with Alex Wilson (Ward 13 – Dundas-Central Flamborough) the only one opposed.
MOTION 9.6 – DEFERRAL OF DEVELOPMENT CHARGE EXEMPTIONS TO 2027
Councillor Cassar proposed reducing the 2026 Capital Levy by $3 million by deferring the funding of historical Development Charge exemptions to the 2027 budget process.
Some members of Council worried about pushing those budget pressures to future years.
Nevertheless, the motion passed 12-4 with Horwath, M. Wilson, Kroetsch, and Spadafora voting against.
MOTION 9.7 – CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION PLAN AND CAPITAL LEVY DEFERRALS
Councillor Mike Spadafora (Ward 14 – West Mountain) and Councillor Matt Francis (Ward 5 – Hamilton East-Stoney Creek) brought forward a motion to defer $2.5 million in funding for the climate change action plan to 2027 since there is already $800,000 in the Climate Change Reserve that can be used for projects in 2026.
Francis said that projects should be approved individually rather than giving the Climate Change Office so much money up front.
The motion also included reducing the capital levy by $719,000 by deferring various amounts from five different cybersecurity projects to 2027 since only $15.9 million of the budgeted $38.825 million from 2025 was spent.
The motion was defeated 6-9.
Motion
IN FAVOUR (6): Jackson, Francis, Clark, Cooper, Beattie, Spadafora
AGAINST (9): McMeekin, M. Wilson, Cassar, Hwang, Tadeson, A. Wilson, Nann, Kroetsch, Horwath
ABSENT (1): Pauls
MOTION 9.8 – CANCELLATION OF TRAFFIC SIGNAL ON CENTRE ROAD
Councillor Ted McMeekin (Ward 15 – East Flamborough-Waterdown) brought forward a motion to cancel the planned traffic signal at the intersection of Carlisle Road and Centre Road in his ward by keeping a four-way stop, reducing the levy by $20,000.
The motion passed 14-0.
MOTION 9.9 – FUNDING ADDITIONAL PARAMEDICS
In the final motion, Councillor Jeff Beattie (Ward 10 – Stoney Creek-Fruitland-Winona) proposed adding 10 full-time paramedics in 2026, in accordance with the Hamilton Paramedic Service Master Plan.
The number of new hires had been reduced to five additional paramedics as a cost mitigation initiative.
The change means an additional cost in 2026 of $728,510, which Beattie stipulated should be funded from the Tax Stabilization Reserve, with no impact on the tax levy.
The motion passed 14-0.
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.
