Hamilton loses fight with NPCA over higher fees
Commissioner finds no evidence city has agreement to pay lower bill
The city has lost a three-year battle to recoup $2.5 million in annual fee hikes — and cut future bills — levied by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.
Council members were outraged in 2015 to learn the NPCA had changed a long-standing funding formula to more than double Hamilton’s annual bill for services, from about $500,000 to almost $1.2 million. (The authority is based in Niagara but is also responsible for watersheds in parts of Hamilton and Haldimand. All three municipalities fund the agency.)
Council appealed the change to the provincial Mining and Lands Commissioner. It also supported calls for a forensic audit — or even a provincial takeover — of the beleaguered agency, which has faced widespread criticism over financial transparency and accountability. Three years later, deputy commissioner Marianne Orr rejected Hamilton’s appeal.
“I cannot agree with and find no support for the city’s (Hamilton) interpretation,” she said of the city’s argument that all three member municipalities had agreed on a different funding formula 15 years ago — one that favoured a cheaper annual bill for Hamilton.
The deputy commissioner also noted there was no evidence of an “appropriate” agreement justifying the cheaper bill Hamilton had historically paid from 2000 to 2014.
On the upside for Hamilton, Orr
ruled the city does not have to pay the NPCA’s legal costs related to the appeal.
Hamilton Coun. Sam Merulla called the decision “unbelievable” and another example of the city being “bullied” by provincial decision-makers. He added the ruling is hard to swallow given the “problematic recent history” of financial management at the conservation authority. The NPCA faces an audit by Ontario’s auditor general Bonnie Lysyk following allegations of mismanagement and poor financial transparency and accountability from residents and politicians inside and outside Niagara.
It was not immediately clear if the commissioner’s decision leaves the door open for Niagara Region or Haldimand to appeal for retroactive repayment from years prior to 2015.
NPCA board chair Sandy Annunziata, who is also a Niagara Region councillor, said Tuesday he has not heard anyone formally raise that prospect. He noted the agency’s board still has to formally receive and discuss the decision.
He called Niagara residents “the real winners” from the hearing decision, arguing it more fairly shares funding costs among member municipalities. So far, the NPCA has been keeping the disputed cash in a separate reserve.
“Unfortunately this means Hamilton pays a little more … but it will be paying its fair share.”
The immediate impact of the decision is the tax bill for Hamilton homeowners related to NPCA services will remain high. If Hamilton had won the appeal, it stood to recoup close to $2.5 million. City finance head Mike Zegarac said the city has already been paying the higher bills “under protest” since 2015 out of rainy day reserve funds. If the decision is not appealed, the city will have to incorporate the $1.3 million-plus annual bill into its annual budget.
The NPCA bill for Hamilton has gradually grown since 2015 to $1.4 million projected for 2018. Council will get a more detailed update on any appeal options later in January. The agency is primarily responsible for lands in Hamilton draining into the Welland River, including parts of Ancaster, Stoney Creek and Glanbrook.