Why I support Hamilton’s next budget
Like all residents of Hamilton, the City is being forced to cope through difficult times. Inflation pressures are as dramatic from a city planning perspective, as they are at the household level. Sadly, Hamilton’s industrial/commercial to residential tax assessment ratio is 14% to 86%. In Toronto, where the ratio is closer to 50-50, residential ratepayers pay 34% less in taxes. Hamilton’s lopsided ratio forces residential taxpayers to balance the scale and pay relatively more compared to residents in other municipalities. A greater emphasis on the commercial / industrial growth in Hamilton, to balance the ledger for ratepayers is clearly necessary.
Add to that equation Hamilton's $3.4 billion cumulative infrastructure deficit, much needed water/sewer improvements, and necessary expenditures on policing, fire fighting, EMS, snow removal and waste collection. Combined, we get a stark grasp of the fiscal challenges facing our city in the near term. Functionally speaking, it is almost impossible to meet even our basic city needs without an adequate revenue stream.
For the record, the City controls 46% of the local budget – with 54% of the costs being provincially and federally mandated services. And 85% of the costs the city does control are staffing costs. Over the last four years, the city’s unionized staff have received an average 1.2% yearly base salary increase. That kind of increase simply isn’t going to wash in a 6%+ inflation world. Council has just completed a four month deep-dive on how to fund the growing needs of our city. Areas that people comment on most frequently are more often than not (and predictably) the areas the city has chronically underfunded.
Without an increase to the City’s revenue stream, it will be impossible to increase police, fire, and public safety, while also ensuring the quality of our water infrastructure. In addition, the City is left to fill the gaps left by our two senior levels of government on housing and homelessness, as well as public health and social services. Further, if we want to assist with small business post-pandemic economic recovery, and overcome decades of neglect and underfunding to critical municipal systems, this is simply the reality of our situation.
At one point, Council was considering a double digit rate hike. I was a strong voice against simply stamping that dramatic increase, without careful consideration of value for tax dollars. Working with Council, together we parsed significant savings from that first draft. Further, I will continue to support any reasonable decrease in the overall city budget, should effective cost savings be identified. I welcome that conversation with constituents and Council colleagues. To be frank, I would love to be able to vote against a 6%+ budget increase, but I cannot in good conscience do so, after having a four month opportunity to hear and learn about the many pressing needs in Ward 15, as well as the greater Hamilton community.
When I ran for public office I promised to make decisions based on evidence, supported by principle and designed to achieve the greatest good. I believe the current proposed budget meets those criteria.
