At their Dec. 10 council meeting, Hamilton City Council voted 10-5 in favour of deferring the municipality’s planned stormwater fee rain tax until 2027.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath, who was the only one absent for the vote, said she is “disappointed” with the move.
The tax was set to be collected for the first time starting in July 2026.
However, Councillor Mark Tadeson (Ward 11 – Glanbrook-Binbrook-Mount Hope) brought forward an amendment to have the implementation date moved back by six months to Jan. 1, 2027.
The amendment was seconded by Councillor Jeff Beattie (Ward 10 – Stoney Creek-Fruitland-Winona).
With the next Hamilton municipal election slated for Oct. 26, 2026, the move also means that the fate of the rain tax could be up to the next City Council.
In his reasons for requesting the deferral, Tadeson said that he has concerns with how the stormwater fee will impact the city’s ability to attract major players to industrial parks, as well as the impact on small businesses and school boards.
He wants further consultation on the impacts.
Tadeson added that the Government of Ontario also looks set to implement new regulations that would prohibit municipalities from imposing stormwater fees on agricultural properties that are not connected to municipal storm sewers, such as farms and greenhouse operators.
Tadeson says that the provincial changes add uncertainties to the city’s current stormwater fee model.
Next, he also expressed that the city’s resources should be focused on another project.
Beginning on April 1, 2026, the City of Hamilton will be taking over water, wastewater, and stormwater utility billing from Alectra Utilities.
The new Hamilton Utilities Billing (HUB) team will be managing water meter reading, billing, and customer service.
The city also has to transition tens of thousands of properties to the new billing system.
As a result, the city’s stormwater program will continue to be funded by water rates.
For 2026, the city’s water rate was set to increase by 5.82 per cent (an increase of $61.82 annually to the average bill) and residents living in single-family detached homes were set to be hit with a stormwater fee of $100 on top of that (the stormwater fee is about $201 for a single-family detached home, but the city was set to start collecting the fee in July so would have only charged homeowners in 2026 for half of the year).
Other properties, including industrial, commercial, institutional, agricultural, and multi-family properties, were also set to be hit with the stormwater fee based on the impervious area of each property, which in many cases would have totalled thousands of dollars.
Without the stormwater fee, staff say that the city’s water rate will have to increase by 7.23 per cent in 2026 (an increase of $77.65 to the average bill).
City staff have also said that without a stormwater fee, the city’s water rate will have to increase substantially in subsequent years to fund infrastructure.
The delay of the rain tax until after the 2026 municipal election means that it looks set to become a key issue at the ballot box.
Tadeson wrote on his website that he will be working to get “all rural residents” exempted from the rain tax, not just those who have farms or greenhouses.
More details on the rain tax can be found in a previous article from The Hamilton Independent here.
VOTING RESULTS
To move the implementation of the Stormwater Fee (rain tax) to Jan. 1, 2027.
DECEMBER 10, 2025: CITY COUNCIL MEETING
IN FAVOUR (10): Tammy Hwang (Ward 4 – Hamilton East), Matt Francis (Ward 5 – Hamilton East-Stoney Creek), Tom Jackson (Ward 6 – East Mountain), Esther Pauls (Ward 7 – Central Mountain), Rob Cooper (Ward 8 – West/Central Mountain), Brad Clark (Ward 9 – Upper Stoney Creek), Jeff Beattie (Ward 10 – Stoney Creek-Fruitland-Winona), Mark Tadeson (Ward 11 – Glanbrook-Binbrook-Mount Hope), Mike Spadafora (Ward 14 – West Mountain), Ted McMeekin (Ward 15 – East Flamborough-Waterdown)
AGAINST (5): Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale), Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3 – East Hamilton Centre), Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough), Alex Wilson (Ward 13 – Dundas-Central Flamborough)
ABSENT (1): Mayor Andrea Horwath
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.
