Here's why Hamilton residents can expect their annual water bill to go up by $90 this year

The average annual Hamilton residential water and sewage bill will go up nearly $90 this year following city council's December approval of a new water and sewer budget, as the city seeks to improve infrastructure and cope with a loss of revenue.

According to a city news release, there will be a 10.04 per cent increase to water and sewer rates in 2024. 

In an interview, Hamilton's director of water Nick Winters told CBC Hamilton the city has projected a need for 10 per cent increases each year for the next nine years.

"The cost of not investing in it is going to be greater than investing," he said.

Winters said the water and wastewater treatment plants on Woodward Avenue plants need $1.1 billion in capital investments, and Hamilton needs to spend $147 million to replace the Dundas wastewater treatment plant. 

"Our sincere hope is that we can find partnership with the provincial and federal government to bring that bill for the local Hamiltonian down to something that is going to be more affordable, but those are discussions that are going to take time as well," he said.

Majority of increase due to recouping lost revenue: city

According to the city, the average annual residential water and sewer bill in Hamilton was $877 in 2023. The 2024 average annual residential water and sewer bill is expected to increase to approximately $965, it said.

Of the 10.04 per cent expected rate increase this year, 2.39 per cent will go toward inflation, replacing or rehabilitating aging infrastructure, and program delivery.

The city said the remaining 7.65 per cent of the rate increase is to recoup a loss of revenue due to provincial changes to legislation. For instance, the More Homes Built Faster Act has "transferred much of the cost of growth that helps build water and sewer infrastructure from property developers to municipalities," the city said.

It added that for the first time, it will acknowledge on water bills how much of the cost is due to provincial legislation.

In the city release, Mayor Andrea Horwarth said she would meanwhile "continue to advocate to our provincial partners to offset these costs and lessen the burden on Hamilton taxpayers."

Winters: Hamilton has an old, 'complex' wastewater system

Winters said the city has one of the oldest and most complex water and sewer systems in Canada, dating back to the mid-1800s.

He said that's due to factors including the city's geography, operating within multiple watersheds, and having one large treatment plant instead of multiple smaller ones as is often the case in municipalities. Old infrastructure means things wear out, and it means dealing with the legacies of years-old mistakes and outdated engineering, he said. 

Hamilton has a combined 5,266 kilometres of water and sewer pipes. About 146 kilometres of those pipes, or three per cent, are identified as needing major repairs or replacement in the next five years.

The city has also been working to improve its inspection process of the sewage system, after the discovery of two massive spills in November 2022 and January 2023 that prompted a provincial officer's order by Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. The spills sent a combined 396 million litres of sewage into Lake Ontario over the last 27 years.

That work continues, Winters said. "I'd like to tell you that we're not going to find any more cross connected sewers. We found three so far. I would be surprised if we didn't find some more, unfortunately," he said. 

It's unclear exactly how much that work is expected to cost the city, but Hamilton's project website shows the cost of fixing detected spills has ranged from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands. 

Infrastructure spending hard story to tell: expert

Winters said it can be challenging to explain the need for investment to residents because with water and wastewater systems, "if it's working well, you don't notice it."

Ideally, he said, residents won't notice the results of investments, because their services will work as intended in the lead-up and continue to after.

David Arbuckle, who leads the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, says it's important for municipalities to be clear and transparent about investments and spending priorities, particularly around budgeting time.

It can be challenging to explain the need for investments in things people aren't familiar with, like wastewater infrastructure, he said. 

Arbuckle added that he can see why Hamilton wants to specify where it has lost funding due to provincial changes. "There's [never] enough revenue to go around," he said.

Since municipalities can't run deficits and still have to fund infrastructure, they have to look elsewhere for money.

"Without sustainable predictable funding from other levels of government, ultimately that cost has to be borne by the user or the ratepayer."