This Carluke farm property could see up to $1,000 in stormwater fees under the city’s proposal — but also be eligible for “green space” credits that would slash the bill.
Cathie Coward
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson
This Carluke farm property could see up to $1,000 in stormwater fees under the city’s proposal — but also be eligible for “green space” credits that would slash the bill.
Hamilton council is facing growing calls to exempt farms from planned stormwater fees — including a letter from Ontario’s rural affairs minister urging “special consideration” for agricultural land.
The letter from Tory Minister Lisa Thompson, sent to several municipalities considering stormwater fees, urges municipal leaders to “ensure there are no unintended consequences that disproportionately impact farmers or greenhouse operators.”
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Lisa Thompson
Chris Young
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It also highlights an example to follow — Brant County — noting that municipality is proposing to exempt farms from its planned fee.
The letter was read aloud last week at Hamilton’s agricultural and rural affairs subcommittee — which subsequently voted to ask council to rethink its decision to charge stormwater fees to farms, arguing it is not “justifiable, fair or equitable.”
Rockton farmer Gavin Smuk authored the committee motion urging the city to adopt a rate structure closer to Brant County’s proposal, which he argued focused fees on areas connected to municipal sewer infrastructure. “To me, that’s the most sensible way to go about it,” he said. “If you benefit from city infrastructure, you pay the fee.”
The long-debated fee — derided by critics as a rain tax — is meant to help Hamilton cover the climate change-fuelled cost of managing stormwater, which is expected to reach $54 million in 2025 when the program is supposed to start.
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Several large Ontario cities have adopted similar fees — including Ottawa, Brampton, Mississauga and Kitchener — while others, like Toronto, are still grappling with the idea.
Alarmed local farmers spoke out last year, arguing Hamilton’s proposed model could put some of them out of business based on fee estimates for some agricultural properties in the tens of thousands of dollars. The average residential property is expected to be charged around $170.
They also argued runoff from barn rooftops at a farm, which is largely absorbed by the ground nearby or local creeks, does not have the same impact as stormwater rushing off large industrial properties and mall parking lots into increasingly overwhelmed urban sewers.
The city is now consulting on a hoped-for solution to those concerns: a “green space” rebate that could cut stormwater fees for farm properties by up to 90 per cent.
City water director Nick Winters said staff are “not blind” to plans in neighbouring Brant County, but reiterated council already approved a high-level rate structure last year and, so far, the idea of exempting farms or other properties is not being considered. The city could not provide a spokesperson this week to talk about the reasons why exemptions are off the table, but in an email cited potential unspecified legal headaches under the Municipal Act.
Winters also argued it is “misinformation” to suggest rural areas do not benefit from city services to handle stormwater, pointing to rural road culverts, storm ponds and conservation authority work protecting streams from erosion.
Councillors around the committee table were split over the idea of exemptions.
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Ancaster councillor Craig Cassar said he would be “challenged” to support a total exemption for farm country, noting rural areas still benefit from stormwater spending. “I think it has to be more nuanced than all or nothing,” he said.
Upper Stoney Creek councillor Brad Clark argued the stormwater fee proposal was originally meant to account for “big malls and parking lots,” not farm operations. “I really fear the outcome if we push through on this, even with the credits being proposed, because it will be confusing as all hell to the farmers.”
Flamborough councillor Ted McMeekin said it is important for the city to take seriously the concerns being brought forward by farmers. “There’s a storm brewing,” he said. “It could be a tsunami unless we get (this) right.”
Council is expecting to hear an update on potential stormwater fee rebates in June.
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