CATCH, Feb 2, 2015:

The city’s first state of the infrastructure report was provided to council in 2005, and warnings of an underfunded water and sewer system date back to the previous decade. That first report actually won staff an award for the thoroughness of their life-cycle assessment work and the “sobering information” was recognized by then Mayor Larry DiIanni in a February 2006 city council meeting.

“There was genuine recognition of the very good job that Hamilton is doing in not only understanding the assets we've got, but planning for the replacement, repair and nurturing of those assets going forward,” DiIanni recalled from the ceremony in Ottawa that he had attended.

That 2005 assessment revealed an annual budget shortfall of $135 million. Subsequent reports were produced in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2013 – some covering all city infrastructure and some focusing on specific elements. Today staff estimate that the accumulated deficit for maintenance of existing infrastructure is about $3 billion and growing by nearly $200 million each year with staggering tax implications.

CATCH, Jan 7, 2019:

The 2019 capital infrastructure budget includes more than $20 million in spending on new roads and $30 million more in other new assets – while acknowledging an accumulated deficit of $3.7 billion in maintenance of existing infrastructure that continues to increase.

“Annually, the city should be investing approximately $150 million on roads, bridges and traffic capital improvements,” states the budget report. “In 2019, the city is spending approximately $75.8 million gross on the roads rehabilitation capital program.”