City of Hamilton Tax Operating Budget prioritizes safety and integrity of City infrastructure

Hamilton, ON – The City of Hamilton is committing to ongoing investments in the safety, integrity, and longevity of municipal infrastructure through its 2023 tax operating budget.

As part of the $1.07 billion budget, the City is committing sustainable funding for the Corporate Asset Management Office, which will coordinate with asset owners and technical service providers to prioritize the repair and replacement of core infrastructure – roads, bridges, water and sewer lines, buildings, etc. – belonging to the City, as well as ensure that the City is in compliance with legislative requirements and adheres to the deadlines put in place by the province for all City assets.

As referenced in the City’s Asset Management Plan(PDF, 3.67 MB), approved by Council in the spring of 2022, the total replacement costs for all core assets currently valued at $21.3 billion and that have, on average, approximately 28 years of service life remaining before they need to be replaced or rehabilitated.

Strategic municipal asset management involves the challenge of planning and investing in municipal infrastructure assets, while ensuring sound stewardship of public resources and delivering valued customer services. Through the application of asset management principles and processes, the Corporate Asset Management Office will assist the City by enabling limited funding to be more efficiently distributed to the infrastructure most in need of attention. Through the efforts of the Corporate Asset Management Office, enhanced asset management practices will become ingrained in the City’s culture at all levels of the organization.

The Office and its work will help ensure that the City continues to comply with Ontario Regulation 588/17, Asset Management Planning for Municipal Infrastructure, which requires Ontario municipalities to better understand the current state of their infrastructure in order to better identify the assets most in need of improvement for all assets owned by the City.

Commitments to improved asset management practices to maximize the lifespan of infrastructure builds on commitments made in the 2023 tax capital budget, which include a Capital Levy increase of $9.3 million in new infrastructure spending, representing a residential tax impact of 0.9 per cent. The $9.3 million is the increase required to support the financing strategy in the overall $285.7 million 2023 Tax Supported Capital Budget.

Infrastructure and asset management-related strategic objectives of the 2023 Tax Supported Capital Budget include:

• A plan for a phased ten-year strategy to address the infrastructure gap identified in the Transportation Asset Management Plan;
• Funding to address inflation and supply chain impacts on City infrastructure project costs;
• Sustainable investment to support the municipal funding requirements for infrastructure programs from senior levels of government and for incremental debt servicing costs in strategic capital programs;
• Supporting strategic investments in the 2016-2025 Strategic Plan and other priority areas such as the 10-Year Local Transit Strategy, Affordable Housing and Poverty Reduction Investment Plan, the Solid Waste Management Master Plan, the Transportation Master Plan, Parkland Acquisition and the Climate Change Action Plan;
• Investment in strategic growth initiatives such as the West Harbour Waterfront Strategic Initiatives, Downtown Revitalization, Airport Employment Growth District and Transportation Corridors, including funding for the Waterdown by-pass and Waterdown Road;
• Expansion and renewal of Hamilton Street Railway’s (HSR) fleet through the purchase of 36 new buses – nine to support growth, nine to help meet the City’s multi-modal target of 48 per cent non-single occupant vehicle split by 2031 and 18 to replace those buses nearing end of life;
• Funding for an electric vehicle (EV) strategy