It is likely to be a long Council meeting as councillors grapple with the Barton/Tiffany fiasco, and there could be a debate on US tariff responses.
Here’s a preview summary for Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
The meeting agenda is online here. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. inside Council Chambers. It will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Six agenda items of note:
- The Barton/Tiffany “Temporary” Outdoor Shelter Fiasco Cost Overruns
- Modernization of City Regulations and Funding for Residential Care Facilities
- Green Building Standards Implementation Plan – and Financial Incentives
- US Tariffs Response
- 2025 Tax Policies and Area Rating
- Youth Petition to Tax Vaping Products
Items of Note
Barton / Tiffany Outdoor Shelter Fiasco: Council is receiving their first official update on the Barton/Tiffany “temporary” outdoor shelter fiasco. The project is $5.1-million overbudget, having cost $7.9-million to construct when Council had authorized $2.8-million. This being the first Council debate regarding the fiasco, it could get interesting.
More in this TPR story:
Residential Care Modernization: In November 2024, Council directed staff to create a terms of reference and scope of work that will guide the review of Residential Care Facilities including community consultation. A consultant was hired and they are now recommending the City create a new “Housing with Related Supports program model” which will maximize the City’s qualifying for provincial funding reimbursement.
“This proposal will include an analysis of the financial impacts of the new design, as well as a transition plan. City staff will present a recommendation report to Council for approval in the fall of 2025 to support the implementation of the new funding model.”
Due to RCFs housing the most vulnerable, and often voiceless, residents of Hamilton; there will be much discussion of what members of the public need to be consulted and how.
Green Building Standards Incentives: City Council’s Planning Committee passed a series of new “Green Building” construction requirements on Tuesday. The new rules will be effective on September 1, and are more stringent than the Ontario Building Code.
The City is proposing three new grant incentives for developments that exceed the City’s new standards. Of note, the grants will not be offered for new purpose-built rental apartment buildings.
A “Growing a Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable (GREEN) Hamilton Development Tax Increment Grant Program” will be “relative to the actual increase in municipal property taxes generated” from environmental improvements.
Green developments will be offered more staff support during the application process and prioritized over other applications. [Note: purpose-built rental is excluded from this as well.]
The City will offer grants of up to $10,000 for private developers to fund “eligible studies” on metrics like operational energy use and embodied carbon. Non-profit housing will receive up to $20,000.
Industrial area buildings that reduce their greenhouse gas intensity by 50 percent can receive up to $400,000 for things like solar panels, heat pumps, geothermal systems.
The City will also implement a tax grant program for industrial properties.
US Tariff Response Update: City staff have listed all the responses they’ve implemented in response to US President Donald Trump’s tariff trade war against Canada. However, the staff report does not include the decision of Senior Leadership Team to remove US flags from City facilities, including the quickly reversed removal from war memorials.
City staff are no longer permitted to travel on business to the United States is the one response not previously disclosed.
The City will continue purchasing “awards” from American companies, such as the “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” that Hamilton and over 1700 cities purchased last year.
2025 Tax Policies and Area Rating: The annual ward-by-ward tax increase amounts was posted as an added item.
Youth Petition to Tax Vaping Products: The Stoney Creek Youth Council wants the City of Hamilton to impose a tax on vaping products. Two youth council members will delegate to Council regarding the proposal.
Ward 10 Clr Jeff Beattie will move a motion to direct staff to investigate “options, mechanisms, and authority requirements by which the City of Hamilton might impose a Municipal Vaping Products Tax as a method of reducing Vape Usage in Hamilton”
Notes on Other Agenda Items
Tax Grant for New Hotel Near Airport: Council will rubberstamp a tax incentive grant for a new four-storey hotel with 94 rooms and 94 surface parking units at 9075-9089 Airport Road. The new hotel will increase the tax assessment of the property from $396,000 to $9,990,000, resulting in the City gaining $204,728 in new annual property tax revenue.
Councillor Motions
Hwang on Kenilworth and Roxborough: Ward 4 Clr Tammy Hwang wants staff to propose recommendations to support the Kenilworth Avenue North commercial corridor, and a separate motion to see if the City can offer more incentives to Roxborough Park Inc. to create more “attainable townhouse units within the project.”
Tadeson on Glanbrook Community Recreation Centre: Ward 11 Clr Mark Tadeson wants staff to complete the feasibility study for a new recreation centre in Glanbrook by the end of September, and that it be “prioritized” “over other projects until staff report back to Council on the outcome of the feasibility study.”
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Published: April 30, 2025
Last updated: April 30, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
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