Hamilton council strikes down vacant home tax in the works for 4 years. Here's what happened

In a surprise twist, Hamilton council struck down a vacant unit tax that city staff have been developing for four years and is ready to roll out this winter.

The tax is designed to crack down on investors who buy homes and let them sit empty instead of renting them out for more than half a year, staff say. It is one of many programs the city has been implementing to use to ease the affordable housing crisis. 

In January, council approved the vacant unit tax bylaw in a 9-5 vote, giving staff the green light to get it ready to go for 2024. 

But on Wednesday, when council voted on whether to confirm the bylaw — a procedural step for an initiative that's already been set into motion — it was defeated in a 6-6 tie. 

"I was as surprised as anyone," said Coun. Tom Jackson.

He's a vocal opponent of the tax and voted against it several times without success until Wednesday when a number of factors swung in his favour. 

In a rare move, he'd requested the bylaw be voted on separately from the nearly two dozen other bylaw items, which he said he'd given some councillors a head's up about the day before in an email. 

Two supporters of the tax, Coun. Cameron Kroetsch and Coun. Nrinder Nann, both weren't in the chamber at the time of the vote and weren't aware it would be voted on separately. Kroetsch said he had to leave due to a scheduling conflict and Nann said she'd stepped away to attend to matters for her mother who is in the hospital. 

"It was wild," Nann said of the vote. "I found it quite disrespectful of the professional staff who've been working for four years on the path of implementation."

She said the city has already gotten public feedback, which was overwhelmingly supportive, approval from the province, and had sent out notices to households. 

Coun. Jeff Beattie switched sides, as well. In January he'd supported the tax and on Wednesday he opposed it. He said in that time he'd heard concerns from his constituents about how the tax was going to work.

The tax would require all homeowners to declare if their properties are occupied for more than half of the year, according to a staff report outlining the program last January. If they don't make this declaration, they'll face the tax even if their homes aren't vacant, but can appeal. 

Vacant properties would be exempt if the owner died recently, it's undergoing a major renovation, the property has been sold, the principal resident is in care or hospitalized, or there's a court order nobody can live there.

"There's a lot of confusion and a general misunderstanding of how it works," he said. "Some folks haven't received the initial documents or don't understand what they're supposed to do."