Hamilton's separate stormwater fee pushed back a year to January 2028, with school boards to be left out

What was decided

On September 28, 2026, Hamilton's General Issues Committee voted 11–0 to approve the recommendations in staff Report FCS26071: defer implementation of the City's dedicated Stormwater Utility Fee from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028, and exclude all four publicly funded district school boards in Hamilton from the fee framework and future rate modelling. The City's stormwater fee webpage now states that the City will implement the fee in 2028.

Under the framework Council approved in 2023, stormwater costs now recovered through wastewater rates and the tax levy would instead be billed as a separate charge based on the load each property places on the stormwater system. The City says wastewater customers can expect their wastewater rate to be restated, a reduction of about 20 per cent on average, when the fee starts, and that properties that do not pay for water or wastewater today will begin receiving a stormwater bill.

Why it was delayed again

Council had already moved the start from July 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 so staff could focus on the launch of Hamilton Utilities Billing, which went live on April 13, 2026. Report FCS26071 says two changes have since altered the assumptions behind the fee. Amendments to Ontario Regulation 584/06, in force July 16, 2026, limit municipal authority to charge stormwater fees to farm and managed forest properties not directly connected to a municipal storm sewer. And staff recommend excluding school boards after reviewing section 58 of the Education Act, which the report says prohibits municipalities from imposing fees and charges on publicly funded school boards, subject to limited exceptions.

The report says the school board figures break down to about $1.04 million for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, $0.63 million for the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, and smaller amounts for the two French-language boards.

What happens next

Staff are to use one full year of Hamilton Utilities Billing data to reassess the framework and report back to the General Issues Committee by the third quarter of 2027, including the implications for 2028 stormwater rates and the fee structure. The City's fee page notes that the rate is set by Council each fall. The committee's recommendations went to Council's October 7, 2026 meeting as part of the committee's report.