Hamilton city councillors scramble to find savings to meet 2026 budget

Several of Hamilton’s city councillors are having a hard time agreeing to proposed changes to some city services outlined in next year’s budget, as city departments look to find cost-savings.

Each city department has been encouraged to keep their costs low this year, as Mayor Andrea Horwath has said the residential tax increase can’t be more than 4.25 per cent.

The Public Works department gave its budget presentation Thursday saying in 2026, they will prioritize the Main Street two-way conversion, upgrades to the Hamilton Stadium and more projects, but they will also need to reduce a few services to hit their targets.

“I’m very, very concerned,” said Hamilton Ward 6 Councillor Tom Jackson.

Council’s budget committee heard from the public works department Thursday afternoon. It’s seeking a 2.6 per cent – or $8.89 million – increase to its budget.

To hit that number, the department has to defer some programs, and make cuts to others.

Starting this year, the province moved the responsibility for recycling pick-up off of municipalities and onto material producers. The new model, however, no longer picks up blue bins from businesses, churches, community services and medical facilities.

The city is currently covering that cost to keep picking up blue bins from the non-eligible groups, until the spring of this year, but after that, expects to save $2.29 million.

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That’s a problem for some councillors, who say small businesses are bearing the brunt of the costs.

“I’m just getting so many emails from businesses, churches even who are very nervous about this, and I don’t want all of this recycling to end up in the landfill,” said Jackson. “I’m open-minded to helping this issue, even if it requires reserves.”

Others say it’s up to the province to step in.

“It was the province’s decision to stop providing that service,” said Hamilton Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark, “and I worry about the city picking up additional costs — a continuing basis that realistically we were supposed to save money on.”

“I know it’s a provincial issue and frankly something that the city isn’t responsible for the costs of, but we have to have an adequate transition plan for businesses — we have to make sure they’re on board and help and support them,” said Hamilton Ward 2 Councillor Cameron Kroetsch.

Another hot button issue at the meeting: how often some municipal grass gets cut. The city is proposing trimming it on a needs basis, rather than the standard once-a-week in the summer.

“It’s a nominal savings, but the impact on the ward will be significant,” said Clark.

Changes to both grass cutting and blue bin pick-up will be the subject of motions from councillors in the coming weeks.

Also on Thursday, the planning and economic development department presented a 0.2 per cent decrease in its 2026 budget, a number which was applauded by councillors — many of which think a 4.25 per cent residential tax increase is far too high.

“People just cannot afford it now, so I would like it to be at inflation, which is 2.2 [per cent] I believe right now,” said Hamilton Ward 7 Councillor Esther Pauls.

Over the next few weeks, councillors will hear from a few more city departments on their budgets, and then will be able to put forward motions to make changes to the budget.

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