Plans & Strategies
User Fee Framework
Contact Us
For questions or additional information, contact:
Romas Keliacius
Manager, Strategy and Continuous Improvement
[email protected]
Kirill Pankov
Senior Project Manager, Divisional Projects and Initiatives
[email protected]
Engage Hamilton
Recreation and Transit Services User Fees
The City is inviting Recreation and Transit users to share their feedback as the first step in creating a corporate User Fee Framework.
User fees are the costs that the City charges the public to access a municipal service. There are numerous user fees across City departments that impact individuals and organizations using municipal services. Each year, departments review their fees and submit them to City Council for approval through the budget process.
User fees have a direct impact on the public’s ability to afford and access critical services, and also represent a significant revenue source for the City to fund program delivery, asset maintenance, and service expansions. A consistent process to balance community needs with cost pressures for all user fees is necessary for the City of Hamilton to continue providing high-quality municipal services.
Focus on Recreation & Transit Services
Recreation and Transit user fees have a direct impact on the public’s ability to move freely across the City and participate in a healthy, active lifestyle. These fees affect the City’s most vulnerable community members, and generate the largest share of the City’s revenues.
Recreation and Transit services are the primary focus of the user fee framework. This starting point will be used as a basis for future implementation across other divisions, and will be consistent with the City’s organizational goals and priorities centered around community benefit, accessibility, equity and ability to pay.
User Fee Framework
Frequently Asked Questions
A transparent process for the City to apply to all user fees across the corporation, that balances the needs for municipal services with the costs associated with offering them.
The user fee framework is still in development and will not impact the 2026 budget or user fees for next year. Based on current timelines, the outcome of this work may impact the user fees that staff will recommend for 2027 and beyond.
In general, user fees are an important aspect of the annual City budget and represent a significant source of revenue for the municipality. Revenues are important to offset costs incurred by the City and can be used to fund expansion or addition of new programs and services.
User fees in recreation and transit have a direct impact on all Hamilton residents, including those that are most vulnerable in our communities, and generate the largest portion of user fee revenue for the City. This project focuses on recreation and transit user fees as a starting point, but the final outcome is designed to be scalable and can be replicated to all user fees across all divisions.
Documents & Reports
Date modified