The City of Hamilton’s new stormwater fee, also known as the rain tax, will be collected for the first time in 2026.
The rain tax was originally supposed to be implemented in 2025, was then moved to April 2026, but will now start in July 2026.
Every single family detached home will be charged the same fixed fee of approximately $201 annually, which is considered one billing unit.
Those who live in semi-detached homes, townhomes, and duplexes will be charged 0.5 billing units, which is approximately $100.
Those living in a triplex, fourplex, fiveplex, or sixplex will be charged 0.3 billing units, which is approximately $60.
The fee applies to all residences, regardless of whether they are urban or rural.
That means that property types that do not receive municipal drinking water or wastewater services will still be subject to the new rain tax.
The city says that once the rain tax is implemented, residents will see a 20 per cent reduction, on average, to their water rate bills since the stormwater program will be funded through the rain tax instead.
That means that rural residents who are not hooked up to the city’s wastewater services will be the most impacted since they do not receive water bills from the city.
FEE FOR OTHER PROPERTIES
Other properties, including industrial, commercial, institutional, agricultural, and multi-family properties with more than six units, will be charged based on the actual impervious area of each property, as determined by aerial imagery.
These properties will be charged one billing unit (approximately $201) for every 291 square metres of impervious area (such as roads, parking, walkways, and roofs).
For agricultural properties that have both a house and outbuildings, houses will be charged the residential fee, and outbuildings will be charged as non-residential.
CREDITS
These other properties, which are charged based on the amount of impervious area, will also be eligible to receive credits.
Any of those properties that do not have a direct discharge connection to the city’s stormwater system (think farms) will receive an automatic Green Space Credit if more than 40 per cent of the property is covered by green space and all runoff from impervious areas drains to the green space.
The Green Space Credit reduces the base stormwater charges based on the ratio of hard surface to the total softscape of the property.
The Green Space Credit is the only credit that will be applied automatically.
The Hamilton Harbour Discharge Credit will potentially reduce the fee up to 90 per cent for non-residential properties (think industrial properties along the waterfront) that use private methods to transport stormwater directly into Hamilton Harbour.
The Hamilton Harbour Discharge Credit requires an application and documentation.
The third, and final credit is the Stormwater Management Infrastructure Credit, which reduces fees by up to 50 per cent for non-residential properties that can demonstrate that they reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater that runs off their property.
It also requires an application and can include properties that have detention ponds or cisterns, treatment facilities, or pollution prevention plans.
The Stormwater Management Infrastructure credit only applies to properties that do not qualify for the Green Space credit or the Hamilton Harbour Discharge credit.
The City of Hamilton has released a “Stormwater Fee Estimator Tool,” which can be found here, to help property owners figure out how much they will be charged.
Some of the hardest hit by the rain tax are those in the greenhouse industry.
The Stormwater Fee Estimator Tool says that NVK Nurseries in Dundas will have to pay over $27,500 annually, even though they receive the Green Space Credit (before the credit was approved, they looked set to pay over $120,000 annually).
Another property, Beverly Greenhouses in Flamborough, will have to pay over $5,200 annually for the rain tax.
Other examples of annual fees from the estimator tool include Dofasco at over $725,000, Hamilton Airport at over $695,700, McMaster University at almost $260,000, Smart Centres Stoney Creek at 510 Centennial Parkway North at almost $65,000, St. John Henry Newman Catholic Secondary School at over $18,500, and the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King at over $7,800.
There have been efforts to exempt agricultural properties from the fee altogether, but so far those attempts have been unsuccessful.
The rain tax was officially approved by Hamilton City Council on June 28, 2023, during a special meeting.
It passed by a vote of 8-4, with four members of Council absent.
VOTING RESULTS
To implement the Stormwater Fee program.
JUNE 28, 2023: HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
IN FAVOUR (8): Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale), Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton), Tammy Hwang (Ward 4 – Hamilton East), John-Paul Danko (Ward 8 – West/Central Mountain), Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough), Alex Wilson (Ward 13 – Dundas-Central Flamborough), Ted McMeekin (Ward 15 – East Flamborough-Waterdown), Mayor Andrea Horwath
AGAINST (4): Matt Francis (Ward 5 – Hamilton East-Stoney Creek), Brad Clark (Ward 9 – Upper Stoney Creek), Jeff Beattie (Ward 10 – Stoney Creek-Fruitland-Winona), Mark Tadeson (Ward 11 – Glanbrook-Binbrook-Mount Hope)
ABSENT (4): Nrinder Nann (Ward 3 – East Hamilton Centre), Tom Jackson (Ward 6 – East Mountain), Esther Pauls (Ward 7 – Central Mountain), Mike Spadafora (Ward 14 – West Mountain)
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.
