By Claude & Parth on 2026-03-27, City: Hamilton, View Transcript
The Audit Finance and Administration Committee met on March 26, 2026, to address several significant issues including an Ontario Works fraud investigation audit, a new utility billing system launch, police funding disputes, and transparency concerns around councillor expenses. The meeting featured heated debates about area rating inequality and grant funding policies, while a closed session addressed a confidential matter reported by the Auditor General.
ONTARIO WORKS FRAUD AUDIT AND OVERPAYMENTS
Delegate Havis Hussein presented comparative data on Ontario Works fraud investigations across municipalities, revealing significant concerns about overpayment recovery. Hussein obtained Freedom of Information data showing the City of London's total Ontario Works overpayment balance at $62.4 million (increased from $58.2 million in 2022), while Hamilton collected approximately $4-4.8 million annually from 2022-2024. Hussein stated: "If one municipality smaller than the city of Hamilton has 62.40 million in overpayments, what is the municipality doing to collecting it?" The delegate also raised transparency concerns, noting they "reached out to staff several times to ask for clarifications and to meet with them" but "have not heard back from both the treasurer's office or the finance office or neither from community services or healthy and safe communities." The Auditor General is currently investigating the issue, with a report expected in Q2.
POLICE COURT SECURITY FUNDING DISPUTE
Hamilton Police Services requested that the city redirect provincial offense revenue to help cover court security costs, as the province only funds approximately 60% of these expenses. The police have included approximately $1 million in their 2026 budget assuming city funding. Councillor Brad Clark expressed confusion about the request, stating: "We provide a budget. They tell us what they need from the city. We pay that. Provincial offenses money comes to the city offsetting whatever we're doing over there... So I the police request to me I still don't understand the rationale." Councillor Cameron Cretch opposed the request, calling it a "tomato tomato situation." General Manager Mike Zeiger confirmed the province has frozen court security funding at $125 million province-wide for several years. The item was received for information only with no motion brought forward.
UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM TRANSITION
The city is launching a new utility billing system called "HUB" (Hamilton Utility Billing) on April 13th, 2026, taking over services currently handled by Alectra. Director of Revenue Services Clayton Pereira reported that "overall readiness is progressing as planned." However, significant concerns emerged about residents receiving welcome packages after the March 20th deadline to sign up for automated withdrawals had passed. Councillor Rob Cooper noted: "We're sending it to communities now and it's already past the date then they could sign up." Staff reported receiving 56% of pre-authorized payment forms and confirmed residents can still sign up but may miss the first billing cycle. Council approved waiving penalty and interest until July for affected residents.
COUNCILLOR EXPENSE REPORTING TRANSPARENCY
A councillor pushed for comprehensive public reporting of all councillor spending, consolidating multiple budget sources into one accessible report. The councillor stated: "There has never ever been a report here at this council in this term or any other term that has accurately shown what counselors spend in their budgets." Current reporting only shows certain expenses like meals but excludes office budget expenditures such as mailers, community meetings, and website design. The councillor emphasized: "The public couldn't care less what account they're coming from. And neither do I. So, I think what I'm trying to say is if a councilor is using public money as an expense, for reimbursement, for their office budget, for a sandwich, like whatever we're spending, one report counts as spending." A formal motion will be brought to the next meeting.
AREA RATING AND GRANT FUNDING INEQUALITY
Vice Chair Spoutor raised concerns about unequal access to city programs based on ward location, noting that Wards 2 and 4 have access to eco home energy self-audit kits while other wards may not. Spoutor stated: "I'm raising that as a concern um in terms of having different abilities to achieve different things depending on where you live within the se within the city as a resident." The area rating system allows residents in certain wards to pay higher taxes with additional money designated for spending in those specific communities. Councillor Crutch introduced a notice of motion for the April 16 meeting to establish standardized grant administration policies across all wards, noting that Ward 2 has developed a "very very very highly controlled" grant program while other councillors are not required to meet the same standards.
Passed: - Transfer of Community Liaison Group for Immigrants and Refugees role to Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council (PEED26052) - Passed 7-1, then unanimously after correction - Outstanding Business List Amendments (Item 8.1) - Passed unanimously - Eco Home and Energy Self Audit Kits for Ward 4 Residents (Motion 9.1) - Passed 6-2 - Receive and keep confidential Auditor General Report AUD 260003 (Report 90083) - Passed unanimously
Received for Information: - Red Light Camera Revenue Sharing (no motion brought forward) - Management response to audit report AUD2501 regarding contract payments to DARTS (File PW2629) - Utility Billing Transition Update (7.4.4) - Red Hill Family Center Value for Money Audit Follow-up (7.5)
Deferred/Pending: - Notice of Motion on Financial Accountability and Administration of Grant Funding (Item 10.1) - To be presented April 16
Staff Present: - City Manager (GM Ziggar) - General Manager Mike Zeiger - Director of Revenue Services Clayton Pereira - Nancy Purser, Director of Transit - Jackie Kennedy, General Manager of Public Works - GM Mater
Delegates: - Havis Hussein - Grace Baldwin (Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council) - Kim Martin (Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council)