City to NPCA: We're not paying the new levy

In an unprecedented showdown, the city of Hamilton says it refuses topay a new levy to the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) that will cost taxpayers nearly $1 million per year.

The NPCA says the old levy was the result of what appears to have been an informal agreement that saw Hamilton paying too little and Haldimand and Niagara paying too much. It calls 2015 a "correction year," and told city council late last year that the levy was jumping from$513,473 to $1.2 million. But city staff estimate that with other changes, itamounts to an annual levy increase of $945,000.

City councillors voted Thursday to pay the old levy amount and nothing more until it appeals to the provincial Lands and Mines Commissioner the city's only recourse. City lawyers say they canfind only one other case of this happening.

It's unfortunate, but you know what? Partners dont do that to each other.- Mayor Fred Eisenberger

The city is also asking the province to come in and take control of the administration of the NPCA, and says it's withholding payment on the rest of the requested amount until the commissioner's binding decision.

"It's unfortunate, but you know what? Partners dont do that to each other," Mayor Fred Eisenberger said. "We have been partners and will be for many more years. Clearly there ought to be some level of collaboration and respect, and from where I sit, this is not the way to do it."

Since 2000, Hamilton, Niagara and Haldimand have paid a levy apportionment determined by an agreement that has since been renewed twice. The city maintains that the agreement is still relevant.But Carmen D'Angelo, CAOof the NPCA and former Hamilton representative on the board, said the authority can't find any evidence of the agreement, and the other two regions want to abide by provincial legislation.

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That legislation, D'Angelo said, bills municipalities according to the percentage of land that's in the watershed, not the number of taxpayers. That results in a$686,504increase to Hamilton and a $282,824 decrease for the Niagara Region, as well as a slight decrease for Haldimand.

D'Angelosaid after the meeting that the authority has a flexible enough budget, as well as reserves, to tide it over until the appeal is settled.

As for penalties for not paying, city solicitor Janice Atwood-Petkovskisaidthere's little case law to compare, but it might leave the city on the hook for some interest.

The authority is expecting the city's first payment of $329,225 on April 20. It bills in quarterly payments.

Councillors also voted to ask for an accounting of how much money has been spent in Binbrook in recent years. D'Angelo said staff is already compiling that.

The NPCA has suffered some turmoil in management in recent years. Last year, there was a near wholesale turnover of its senior management, including D'Angelo's appointment.

Mike Zegarac, the city's head of finance, said other conservation authorities Hamilton deals with which are Hamilton, Halton and Grand River have no plans to change their levy arrangements.