Hamilton’s Conservation Authority will seek a 3.0 percent increase from the City of Hamilton for its 2025 budget, the HCA Director of Finance and Central Support Services Scott Fleming told the Conservation Authority’s Board budget committee this week.
The HCA forecasts spending $ 21.8 million in 2025, $17.7m in operating and $4.1 in capital.
The HCA is the first Hamilton Board to publicly sharing its planned 2025 budget.
Hamilton City Council has not yet started its budgeting process. Mayor Andrea Horwath has not issued a budget directive, as required under the Municipal Act.
Mayor Horwath said this week that she’s been forced on the homelessness and encampment issue. With Council approving the expansion of emergency shelter beds and a 40-unit tiny shelter site at the Barton and Tiffany lands, Horwath said the City “can turn our mind” to the 2025 budget. “This [sanctioned encampments and homelessness] was the focus for a long time. So we are going to turn our mind to that exactly.”
Hamilton’s Police Service Board is conducting its budget meetings in secret, violating the open meeting requirement in Section 43(3) of the Community Safety and Policing Act.
HCA Forecasts Healthy Revenues for 2025
The HCA expects post-2020 growth in visits and membership revenue to continue.
“The post-pandemic era for HCA has been one of significant success, we focussed on recent financial data to develop this budget, no longer anticipating softening of admissions and capping back down to pre-pandemic levels,” Fleming said. “The last number of years have yielded success in conservation area revenues, with 2023 generating the best year on record.”
The HCA traditionally presents it budget to Hamilton City Council in late January.
Production Details v. 1.0.0 Published: September 28, 2024 Last updated: September 28, 2024 Author: Joey Coleman Update Record v. 1.0.0 original version