If you don't support LRT, I'm bringing back the area rating debate: Merulla

A brewing political battle between Hamilton city councillors who want LRT and those resisting it continuedThursday, as one outspoken councillor fired another missile, this time to do with making the suburbs pay more for transit.

Sam Merulla of Ward 4 says he'll push to add HSR to the general tax levy if his fellow city councillors don't support LRT.

Merulla says lower-city councillors agreed not to force thearea rating issuethis term because suburban and Mountain councillors who hold more votes said they'd backLRT."That was the deal," says Merulla.

If everything goes off the rails entirely, which I don't suspect it will, I want it back on the table.- Coun. Sam Merulla

Now, with this week's vote to put off a vote that would have demonstratedsupport for the project,Merullafears some councillors are going back on thatdeal. For anyone having second thoughts, hewants to remind them of that understanding.

"If everything goes off the rails entirely, which I don't suspect it will, I want it back on the table."

Merulla says he's not worried about aggravating the situation."I just want to remind everyone where we came from."

DougConley, Ward 9councillor, says he doesn't remember any such deal. There has been "an understanding" among city councillors, through informal one-on-one conversations, that area rating wouldn't come up this term, he says. But he remembers no arrangement linking it to LRT.

"It's accurate that we talked about not bringing up area rating this term, but not accurate it was based on LRT," he said.

Merulla's move comes the morning after city council voted 9-6 to put off a decision to accept $1 billion from the province for LRT. Instead, they deferred the vote toMay 18, when they'll geta staff presentation about Hamilton's LRT design.

Many councillors interviewed after the meeting say their support for LRT is softening, partly because of concerns they've heard from residents and businesses.

Merulla, who is pro LRT, implied the other side is afraid of the light rail project because they're "weak kneed and lack balls."

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City council has voted for LRT numerous times over the years, he said. That includes votes to ask the province for the money. Now the city has the $1-billion commitment, and LRT is in the implementation stage.

'Admit that you've deceived the public'

"Come out of the closet and admit that you've deceived the public, that you've deceived the residents of this city, that you really didn't mean it when you voted for it, and now suddenly you've had a change of heart and you don't want that billion dollars," he said Wednesday.

Some councillors say they're hesitant about LRT because they want to see city-wide transit improvements, not$1 billion spent in one place.

Scrapping area rating is a way to improve transit, Merulla said."If they really want better service, they're going to have to start paying for it."

The city has alreadysigned a memorandum of agreement with Metrolinx, the agency implementing the project. Metrolinx has also said that the $1 billion, announced last May, will cover the capital costs of building LRT.

The line will to run from McMaster University to the Queenston traffic circle, and down James Street North to the West Harbour GO station, or the waterfront if budget permits.

'Political theatre'

Area rating, meanwhile, has been a contentious issue at city hall for years. In Hamilton, rural property taxes don't go toward transit because of a taxation method called area rating.

Last year, Mayor Fred Eisenberger struck a citizens' panel on transit to look at LRT and area rating. In March, the jury's report recommended the city look at scrapping suburban area rating for transit.

Endingarea rating transit in the suburban areas "warrants consideration," the report said. Instead, it recommended a modified urban-rural model.

But Eisenberger said then that he wouldn't push the area rating issue because the city is too busy with LRT.

Eisenberger told CBC Hamilton he's not worried about city council scrapping LRT. Wednesday's vote, he said, was"political theatre."

Sam Merulla's motion