A newly released report from City of Hamilton staff says that the forecasted average property tax increase for residents in 2027 currently stands at 8.2 per cent.
For the average Hamilton home, that would mean a tax increase of $458 in 2027.
It should be noted that staff budget forecasts simply provide a “starting point,” summarizing current cost pressures.
Forecasted numbers are always whittled down through the budget process.
Hamilton’s water rate budget is also forecasted for a 5.48 per cent increase in 2027.
Staff say that they have already lowered the 2027 budget forecast from an original projection that had the increase as high as 16.7 per cent.
Under current numbers, the 2027 Tax Budget would require an estimated levy increase of $127.9 million, increasing spending by 9.8 per cent “to maintain municipal services, advance Council’s strategic priorities, provide for the requirements of outside boards and agencies, as well as finance capital infrastructure.”
A 9.8 per cent increase in the levy would result in an 8.2 per cent average residential tax increase and would bring the city’s total net levy to $1.438 billion.
For context, the approved total net levy for the City of Hamilton in 2022, before this term of Council, was $993.5 million, meaning that, if the budget were approved as-is, the total net levy will have increased by 44.7 per cent in just five years.
Of the $127.9 million levy increase, $27.5 million is for employee-related costs “for maintaining current services and service levels in City Departments.”
According to an October 2025 report from the City of Hamilton’s Human Resources Department, the number of employees at the city has increased from 8,122 to 9,449 since 2021 and employee-related costs continue to drive tax increases since then.
For the 2026 tax supported budget, wages and salaries counted for 50.47 per cent, followed by benefits (including pensions, benefits, CPP, and EI) at 16.09 per cent, purchased goods and services at 12.58 per cent, and capital financing at 11.99 per cent.
Staff are also forecasting a 9.9 per cent average property tax increase for 2028 and a 5.5 per cent increase for 2029.
The staff report says that key challenges and priority investment areas in the 2027 Budget and Financing Plan include infrastructure enhancement, community well-being and safety, economic stability/development, responding to the housing crisis, advancing customer experience and transparency, and building better and stronger after the city’s cyberattack.
Key infrastructure initiatives include the HSR Next Bus Fleet Expansion, renovations to Fire Stations 16 and 17, the new Paramedic Central Reporting Station, and the Main Street two-way conversion.
The forecasts also support the repair and renewal of roads, recreation facilities, libraries, and related amenities.
The 2027 Tax Budget forecast includes a $12.8 million increase in tax-supported capital funding for the above projects.
The forecast also includes more resources and funding for the Hamilton Paramedic Service and Hamilton Fire Department and “sizable local investments towards affordable housing, the shelter system, and homelessness.”
City staff also released the 2027 City of Hamilton Budget Schedule.
Tax budget adoption is currently slated for the week of Feb. 12, 2027.
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.
