Hamilton rural residents could be paying for snow clearing on sidewalks they don't have

Thestar.com
Nov. 17, 2021

Hamilton councillors may have approved expanding the number of sidewalks that will be cleared of snow, but questions remain about who will pay the cost of the enhanced service.

The Public Works Committee agreed Nov. 15 on a five-year, $3.1-million contract with low bidder Forest Ridge Landscaping Inc. to provide the enhanced service starting in the 2022 winter season.

According to finance staff the rural portions of the city could see, depending upon which area-rating option councillors agree to, anywhere from a $6 tax increase in 2021 to up to $8 in 2023, even though the majority of those homeowners don’t have sidewalks.

“I just find it ridiculous that we should pay the same for sidewalks as the city when we don’t have sidewalks,” said Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson.

But Mountain Coun. John-Paul Danko said rural residents benefit from services that urban residents pay for, such as transit. He said clearing snow from sidewalks that are along transit routes benefits everybody.

“We are an amalgamated city,” said Danko. “When we are looking at who pays for what the rural area, mainly agriculture, (with a) very low tax base, low density, the rural area wouldn’t be able to plow their streets if it wasn’t for the commercial and industrial tax base of the old city of Hamilton. It is more than fair.”

Danko said it was time the rural residents of Hamilton “reciprocate a tiny, tiny cost … to contribute for the betterment of our city as a whole.”

Ward 3 Coun. Nrinder Nann agreed that a proposed average $4 to $6 tax on households is a “reasonable cost” to help assist the mobility of residents throughout the city.

“Most definitely a city-wide benefit here and definitely a lot of value,” she said.

Hamilton councillors agreed in April after years of delay, in a relatively close 9-6 vote to provide enhanced sidewalk snow clearing service for the entire city starting in the winter of 2022-23.

Councillors will vote on the recommendation at their Nov. 24 meeting.

The city currently clears snow from 397 km of sidewalk from its total sidewalk network of 2,445 km. The additional service will mean another 469 kilometres of sidewalks will be cleared of snow along high priority roadways where transit operates.

Social justice activists applauded the city’s decision, arguing the accumulation of snow makes it difficult for people with mobility issues to navigate sidewalks.

“This is really a matter of inclusion,” said Laura Cattari, of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction. “There is a huge effort at the moment to get people with disabilities working and employed. But if they have a physical disability and can’t get out of their homes that is very difficult.”

Cattari said seniors and women with carriages also have a difficult time walking on snow-covered sidewalks.

Brian McMullen, director of budget policy, said councillors will have at least two options to pay for the service when staff provides a report to them during budget discussions in Jan. 2022.

“What the two options look like (is) everybody would be charged just like any other service,” he said.

The impact for all residents on their tax bill for the service will be about 0.1 per cent. But because of area rating and assessment rates that vary across the city, a resident in Ward 1 is projected to pay an additional $5 in tax in 2022 and $6 in 2023, while in Ward 4, the tax increase is $3 in 2022 and 2023. But for Ancaster residents, they could receive a $3 tax cut in the first year, but an $8 increase in 2023, while Ward 15 will see a $6 increase in 2022 and $8 in 2023.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson. “Why would the rural people be paying for it? This concerns me. Not only do rural people not get snow clearing on their sidewalks, they don’t have sidewalks.”