The City of Hamilton has launched a number of different engagement tools to hear from residents regarding the projected 8.9 per cent tax increase coming in 2026.
The Hamilton Independent’s previous article on the impending tax increase can be read here.
The city already held six in-person engagement sessions across the city and one virtual session from Sept. 18 to Sept. 25.
Meanwhile, there are five online engagement tools which are open until Oct. 10. The tools were launched about halfway through September, meaning that they are open for feedback for less than a month.
QUICK POLL TOOL
The first tool that the city has available is a quick poll, which can be found here.
The tool is a one-question poll which asks how the city should balance taxes and services when planning the 2026 budget.
The three answers available are: “Keep taxes low – even if it means reducing or cutting some services and programs”, “Take a balanced approach – maintain current service levels with a moderate tax increase”, or “Increase taxes to improve or expand services and programs.”
At the time of writing, only 98 people have voted in the poll.
So far, keeping taxes low is the most chosen answer at 58 per cent, followed by the balanced approach at 27 per cent and increasing taxes at 15 per cent
BUDGET SURVEY TOOL
The next tool is a longer budget survey, which the city says takes approximately 15 minutes. It can be found here.
The survey asks residents if they are satisfied with various city services and then inquires whether funding for each service should be decreased, increased, or maintained.
Service areas include arts, culture, and events, by-law and animal services, city communications and public engagement, climate action, community services, customer service, economic development, emergency services, transit, housing and homelessness, parks, planning and development, public safety, recreation programs, roads and sidewalks, and winter response.
SHARE YOUR IDEAS TOOL
The next tool has a brainstorming function and can be found here.
The tool allows users to make posts sharing their ideas for the budget, allows users to “like” posts, and also allows for commenting.
So far, only 42 posts have been made, and among the top liked posts is a call to “defund the police.”
BUDGET SIMULATOR TOOL
Next is a budget simulation tool, which can be found here and allows users to submit their proposed budget.
However, the tool broadly breaks down spending into ten main categories, somewhat limiting how residents can share their budget breakdown.
ASK A QUESTION TOOL
The final tool available can be found here and allows users to simply ask questions about the budget.
BUDGET TIMELINE
The city says that staff will gather engagement results once the tools are closed, and a summary of public feedback and how it will be used to inform the budget will be shared in November.
The official budget presentation and deliberation will take place from November to February, with residents also given the opportunity to make a public delegation to Council during that time.
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.
