On Oct. 22, Hamilton’s General Issues Committee passed a recommendation from staff to extend the city’s Vacant Unit Tax for another year.
The recommendation was passed by a vote of 8 to 7. The recommendation was then ratified at City Council on Oct. 29, once again passing on an 8 to 7 vote.
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath did not vote either time, declaring a conflict since she owns a vacant unit. She also declared the same conflict during the initial vote on the tax almost three years ago, back in January 2023.
Council also extended the 2024 Vacant Unit Tax Notice of Complaint / Appeals process deadline to November 30, 2025.
The General Issues Committee also received an interim update on the 2024 Vacant Unit Tax Program (which was first collected in 2025).
According to the report, 180,751 residential units (97.5 per cent) were declared occupied, 413 units (0.2 per cent) were declared vacant, and 4,255 units (2.3 per cent) were “deemed vacant due to non-submission of the occupancy declaration.”
Those that have been “deemed vacant” will also have to pay the tax.
The Vacant Unit Tax applies to all properties that are classified as residential and have been unoccupied for more than 183 days in 2024.
The tax rate is one per cent of the unit’s current assessed value.
The average Hamilton home is assessed at $386,600, which would mean a Vacant Unit Tax of $3,866.
Thus, the report says that, pending further appeals, the current number of residential units subject to the tax is 4,668 units.
Staff originally forecasted that only 1,135 units would be subject to the tax.
Councillors pointed out that those who did not respond to the city but are now subject to the tax could potentially be elderly, those who do not speak English fluently, or those who simply do not check their mail regularly.
Due to the high number of those who did not respond to the city, they expect to collect $15.64 million to $15.84 million in revenue, with $12.54 million to $12.74 million in net proceeds.
Administrative expenditures for the program are forecasted to cost the city $2.16 million (currently to pay 12 full-time staff) and $930,000 in implementation costs, which were lower than the estimated $2.6 million since the city used an existing third-party vendor for the online declaration portal.
With non-responses from 4,255 units, Councillor Mike Spadafora (Ward 14 – West Mountain) questioned how the city can be sure that they will even receive payment from those owners.
City staff said that the Vacant Unit Tax is treated like property taxes in that the final bill is sent to the resident and there are due dates, penalties, and interest that accumulates.
Staff said that if the bill is still not paid after two years, then there is a letter that is registered to the property owner.
If it is still not paid at the three-year mark, the city would proceed to a tax sale of the home, staff explained.
Thus, staff added that they have a “high level of confidence” that they will collect the tax since the charges are “secured against the property.”
In debate on whether or not to continue the tax in 2025, Councillor Tom Jackson (Ward 6 – East Mountain) said, “I can’t believe in this free land of Canada, we are dictating to property owners, to homeowners what to do with their properties.”
“I’ll start by saying it was a noble initiative, but a misguided policy and the implementation has been atrocious. It has disturbed and upset, in my humble opinion, 178,000 homeowners to get, at this current time, 372 declared vacant properties only.”
VOTE TO CONTINUE VACANT UNIT TAX ANOTHER YEAR
IN FAVOUR (8): Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale), Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3 – East Hamilton Centre), Tammy Hwang (Ward 4 – Hamilton East), Mark Tadeson (Ward 11 – Glanbrook-Binbrook-Mount Hope), Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough), Alex Wilson (Ward 13 – Dundas-Central Flamborough), Ted McMeekin (Ward 15 – East Flamborough-Waterdown)
AGAINST (7): 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), Mike Spadafora (Ward 14 – West Mountain)
CONFLICT (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.
