2021 Tax & Rate Budget

The City provides more than 70 services and more than 200 sub-services to the public and the 2021 budget is prepared on the basis of continuing to provide those services. The City budget is based on expected cost increases that include labour rates, inflation, utility costs and the costs of services and materials the City must purchase. While many services have experienced interruptions due to the pandemic, the City continues to ensure those services will be available to residents (facilities, equipment etc.) as the public health environment permits.

Closing facilities and postponing services did result in some staff positions not being hired and a temporary suspension of part-time and seasonal employee hours. However, any savings or avoided costs are offset by revenues the City did not collect. This is particularly true in the areas of museums and recreation.

The City of Hamilton delivers more than 70 services and more than 200 sub-services to the community. Almost every City service was impacted by the pandemic in some way. While many of the services had very little noticeable change for the people receiving them, the City was required to deliver many of them in different ways, often with staff working with enhanced health and safety guidelines or remotely.

Some examples of services that required changes/modification in delivery include (note, not an exhaustive list):

• City Council, Council Relations and Legislative Services: Council and committee meetings moved to a virtual format.
• Financial Management, IT, Legal Services, Communications: Services continued with most staff working remotely, and any necessary office visits were made under enhanced health and safety guidelines.
• Roadway Maintenance: After a brief interruption in service in March 2020 resulting in the suspension of non-emergency road and sidewalk work, maintenance has continued under enhanced health and safety guidelines.
• Transit: Offering essential trips only on a reduced schedule during most of the pandemic. Fare collection suspended and enhanced cleaning protocols in place.
• Building Permits and Zoning By-law Review, Development Approvals: Public counter is closed in favour of an online process for permit applications and zoning requests. The Building Division issued 6,666 building permits in 2020, and 1,623 zoning and property reports.
• Life Skills and Case Management: Moved from in-home visits and group workshops to virtual care using video conferencing. In March 2020 there were 30 referrals on the waitlist. With the implementation of video delivery, the waitlist for the program was eliminated in 2020.
• Ontario Works: Service continued with modifications. Staff transitioned to a work-from-home format to ensure minimal disruption in service to clients.

Some examples of services that had to be closed or significantly modify their services include:

• Recreation Facilities & Services: Through the pandemic, indoor recreation activities were cancelled as per Provincial restrictions. However, the City still offers a number of creative recreation options for residents, such as the Rec at Home program, Seniors without Walls, and other programs offering take home kits and activities for residents to access virtual, outdoor, and self-directed recreation.
• Directly Operated Child Care (Red Hill Family Centre): Early on in the pandemic, the City’s Red Hill Family Centre was closed under provincial direction. It reopened in the summer based on provincial direction and implemented enhanced health and safety guidelines to operate safely.

The City anticipates $30 million in additional operating pressures in 2021. These pressures include increased costs for waste collection, ongoing affordable housing investments, changes in recycling revenues due to a reduction in commodity prices in Asian markets, and collective agreement obligations and capital financing costs. The increase also includes costs associated with agencies and boards.

Using reserves earmarked for capital projects to fund operational needs is not currently contemplated in budget planning. Reserves are targeted for special projects as well as for needed capital infrastructure needs (roads, water, sewer etc.) which continue despite the pandemic.

Using reserves to fund ongoing operating costs is not a sustainable form of operational spending.

By law, municipalities in Ontario are not permitted to run a deficit.

The City incurred $38 million in pandemic related costs in 2020, including investments personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies etc.

These costs are expected to continue in 2021 and are currently estimated to be $22 million. The City expects much of these costs to be covered by financial supports that have been provided by the federal/provincial governments.

For 2020, yes. In some cases, those supports extend to March 31, 2021 but the City is working with the senior levels of government to determine if those supports will continue throughout the year.

The City lost an estimated $55 million in revenue in 2020, including monies normally collected in transit, recreation, parking and provincial offences, OLG slot machines.

The City currently estimates lost revenues to total $39 million in 2021.

The closure of some facilities and the suspension of some services did result in some positions not being hired and the temporary suspension of part-time and seasonal employees’ schedules. Any savings or avoided costs are offset by lost revenues.

Part-time Recreation and Museum staff have been placed on Declared Emergency Leave. Essential services in Public Works (roads, water, sewer etc) continue to be provided by full-time staff.

We are not aware of any staff at the City that are being compensated for not performing work, though the nature of how work is performed has changed for some. Some staff have been asked to work from home, some have been redeployed, and some have had their duties modified.

Staff members on active duty who are immunocompromised or 70 years of age or older and cannot work from home received income protection.

Yes. A total of 1,334 employees were placed on Declared Emergency Leave in May and June 2020 with majority resuming their duties when restrictions eased. Many of these employees, 944, were again placed on Declared Emergency Leave. When employees are on emergency leave, they are not paid by the City but are eligible for federal support programs.

Employees on declared emergency leave are able to take an unpaid leave of absence but still have their employment protected.

There are a number of supports available to employees whose work was interrupted by the pandemic. These include:

• Employment Insurance
• Canada Recovery Benefit
• Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit
• Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit
• Infectious Disease Emergency Leave
• Declared Emergency Leave

Yes, several hundred employees have been redeployed from their regular duties in various areas of the City to help with the pandemic response, and that continues. Employees have been redeployed from across the organization, including staff for example from the City Manager’s Office, Healthy & Safe Communities, Customer Service, Economic Development and Engineering.

In addition to those who have been redeployed, many other employees have also seen changes in the nature, number and scope of their duties due to COVID-19 and the pandemic response.

Yes, the City had to hire 576 new staff to assist with the pandemic response, primarily in the area of Public Health.

Yes, the City hired 320 students in 2020, including summer students, co-op students and high-school co-ops. The City hired 59.7 per cent fewer students in 2020 compared with 2019.

The City has provided a number of supports to staff who are dealing with various COVID-related pressures. Supports include new programs for Managing Stress and Anxiety and Mental Health Resilience, a flexible hours policy to aid with parenting commitments, a work-from-home (telecommuting) policy as well as a number of online supports to foster wellbeing.

The City saw 186 people retire in 2020, down 4 per cent from 2019.

Yes, the City has seen a dramatic increase in the need for supports related to mental health, physical conditions and disease, stress management and parenting.

The City has seen 2,805 employees access mental health training supports in 2020, an increase of 534% when compared to 2019. Stress Management and Resilience program enrollment increased by 244% to 1214.