Suburban councillors prepared to fight area rating motion

Flamborough is gearing up for a fight on Wednesday when a lower-city councillor tries to eliminate area rating for transit.

Coun. Sam Merulla of Ward 4 will introduce a motion at city council to have theHSRput on the general tax levylwhich would mean rural wards would end up paying a bigger piece of the city's transit costs. Currently, suburban and rural wards pay for transit according to the level of services they receive.

Merulla's motion comes on the heels of a heated debate in January, when council voted narrowly to dismantle a two-kilometre transit lane on King Street downtown. Lower-city councillors voted to keep the lane, while most suburban councillors voted to scrap it. A few days later,Merullaserved notice that he'd bring up area rating.

The debate is bound to rouse city councils urban/suburban voting divide. Coun. Judi Partridge of Ward 15 in Flamborough says she plans to fight it.

If it does come forward, I can only tell you what Ive been hearing from my residents, and theyre not happy about it at all.- Coun. Judi Partridge

If it does come forward, I can only tell you what Ive been hearing from my residents, and theyre not happy about it at all, said Partridge.

Waterdown residents pay a small amount on their tax bills for limited transit service, Partridgesaid. Residents of the ever-growing village want better transit service and arewilling to pay for it.

• Suburbs should pay more for transit councillor says

But shes opposed to eliminating the urban/rural area rating that would see transit costs fall equally on everyone.

My question is how does that impact the whole concept and the foundation of the urban/rural tax formula, which we all negotiated? she said.

Eliminating area rating will change attitudes around the council table,Merullatold CBC Hamilton.

We have suburban members of council making decisions on public transit and theyre not paying for it, he said when he first pitched the idea. Its somewhat unfair that you have members of council making a decision they have no vested interest in.

Area rating dates back to Hamiltons amalgamation in 2000, which put mostly rural municipalities such as Flamborough together with urban ones in the old city of Hamilton.

Voting on it but not paying for it

After much deliberation, the city implemented the current area rating system for some municipal services. It means some areas pay specifically for the level ofservicethey receive. Some suburban areas, such as Glanbrook, receive limited transit, while rural Ward 14 receives no transit at all. Those councillors are able to vote on transit-related issues.

Transit has been a heated issue of late. In addition to the transit lane, council is also considering a 10-year transit plan presented by David Dixon, the city's head of transit, as part of the 2015 budget process. The city also expects to hear from Premier Kathleen Wynne in the next couple of months how much the province is willing to provide for the capital costs of light rail transit (LRT).

If transit fell on the general levy, staff say,Wards 1 through 8 in old Hamilton pay about $7 million less for transit, while Wards 9 through 15 pay about $7 million more.

Merulla will also introduce a second motion to offer free transit for aged 12 and under, after seeing Toronto mayor John Torys recent effort. Children aged 12 and under can ride TTC subways, buses and streetcars free as of March 1, while adult fares will increase 10 cents.

The council meeting is Wednesday at 5 p.m. CBC Hamilton will tweet live from the meeting.