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Lorna Johnson signed Fair Fees for Stormwater via Don McLean 2017-05-11 16:37:49 -0400iI makes no sense to do otherwise. of course we all need to pay our fair share
Fair Fees for Stormwater
Environment Hamilton has begun outreach to have Hamilton introduce a new fair fee for stormwater in our city - but we can't do it without your support. Read and sign the petition below!
More information can be found on our website here.
Add signatureDear Mayor Eisenberger and City Council,
I am calling on you to address the rising costs and risk of stormwater management in the City of Hamilton by listening to staff recommendations to reevaluate how we, as a city, pay for the costs of our stormwater management system. As it stands now, households pay for rising stormwater management costs primarily through our water bills. Property owners contributing the most to stormwater runoff which strains our system, pollutes our environment and degrades our infrastructure pay little or none of the costs of dealing with the problem. This approach to stormwater fees has resulted in an underfunded system. Residents don’t see how much we are paying and why. I want fair fees for Hamilton to provide:
1. Transparency (see what we’re paying for)
2. Equity (everyone pays their fair share)
3. Sustainability (city can reliably fund and prepare for the future)
4. Incentives (encourage people to do better, reward those who do)
5. Stewardship (protecting environment and water quality)
I urge you to support Environment Hamilton’s call to adopt a fair stormwater fee system, following the lead of other Ontario municipalities.
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Lorna Johnson signed HSR Petition 2017-02-07 13:33:46 -0500it is inconceivable to my why we do not have an excellent bus service that is cheap enough to encourage people to leave their cars at home and I suggest children should be free. If many older children could take a city bus to school instead of school buses the savings could be used toward transportation for all.People going to hospital appointments also could be free . taxes might have to be higher but if we all had better services all round there would be buy in. .
Quick Facts on Hamilton Transit:
- Hamilton has been spending increasingly less on transit over time. Adjusting for inflation to 2016 dollars, the city spent $83.85 million on transit in 1994, $61.15 million on transit in 2005, and $59.02 million on transit in 2016.
- Hamilton City Council approved the Rapid Ready transit plan, which requires a capital investment of $156 million and a commitment to address an operating cost shortfall of $45 million. Council also approved the Ten Year Local Transit Strategy which includes a requirement to invest $57 million on new buses alone. While these plans have been approved, Council has yet to commit these dollars, and scheduled fare increases are insufficient to cover the costs.
- Each year the federal government gives cities money generated from the federal gas tax with the intent that it be invested in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean our air, and clean our water. Many cities across the country spend their gas tax money on transit. Of $32 million in federal gas tax transfers to Hamilton last year, $3 million went to transit and $29 million to road work.
Organisational Endorsements:
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The Petition:
The HSR is broken and it’s time to fix it. We’re calling on Hamilton City Council to take our city’s transit needs seriously by committing to substantially increase funding for the HSR.
There are a number of actions Council can take in the short term to increase funding, such as spending more of our federal gas tax dollars on transit, like other cities do. Hamilton can also raise taxes to deliver the transit we need and deserve. The scheduled fare increases are not going to fix the HSR while tax dollars for transit remain stagnant.
Public transit is a public good, and enhancing service will bring benefits to residents across Hamilton.
Lorna Johnson
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