By Staff
January 15th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Waterdown wants to become part of Burlington.
A Waterdown resident said he has experienced firsthand, the frustration of our community being part of Hamilton. Despite high taxes, we receive barely serviceable amenities. Our property taxes continue to skyrocket yet we witness a stark lack in crucial services like police coverage. Our transit system is crucially flawed; buses move into Burlington first, then into Hamilton which is absolute nonsense for local commuters.
Aligning Waterdown with the Halton region would greatly enhance our services and also potentially lower our property taxes. The communities in Halton enjoy high-quality services while being levied with comparatively lower property taxes. The year-on-year property tax hike in Hamilton is rapid and unsustainable for many Waterdown residents.
Apart from benefiting from improved services and lower property taxes, this move would reflect the distinct community identity Waterdown possesses, separate from Hamilton. We are not simply a sub-section of Hamilton, but a vibrant, independent community that deserves recognition and resources to suit our specific needs.
As residents speaking on behalf of our community of Waterdown, we urge the recognized authorities to take immediate action. This is not just a change for better services and lower taxes, but a change for the recognition and respect our community deserves. Please sign this petition to join us in advocating for the separation of Waterdown from Hamilton and aligning it with Halton.
There was a time when former Mayor Rick Goldring thought the same thing. During the 2018 municipal election, Goldring announced that he would try and have Waterdown made part of Burlington.
The Mayor of Hamilton didn’t think much of the idea and was miffed when he didn’t get at least a heads-up from Goldring.
Waterdown citizens have views on the idea.
Judy Brodie: I always considered Waterdown as part of Burlington.
Mehek Badiani: We used to live in Halton and moved to Waterdown 2 years ago. We’ve been extremely disappointed with the amenities available, or more like, the lack of amenities. Waterdown should definitely be a part of Halton region instead of Hamilton.
The Waterdown library serves as a community center as well
Karen Mitchell: High taxes, no
Jay Khaware; We are paying the highest tax in Hamilton and not getting anything benefits.
Sushil Sehgal: Because of common sense and services
Manpreet Kaur: We use library , recreation centers, shopping and kids activities in Burlington.
Nadine Abualrous: I do my shopping and my kids activities in Burlington. Our doctors and dentists are in Burlington as well. We feel we belong to there
Monika Chopra: Better connectivity to multiple things schools, police station, and easier and better access to town of Burlington recreational facilities
Related news story:
What does Waterdown have that Burlington wants?
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Waterdown is part of Flamborough, which has been around longer than Canada itself. Over the past three years, I’ve paid over $150,000 in property taxes and have no interest in being associated with Burlington. Hamilton does an excellent job maintaining Waterdown, and Burlington should stay out of it.
I’ve been a resident for 30 years and have no desire to be linked to Burlington. The push to include Waterdown is simply an attempt to manipulate lending classifications, as Waterdown is not part of the GTA so were in a different tier for lending. Burlington’s real interest is tax revenue, especially considering the number of social assistance buildings in the area. Halton’s leadership operates like tyrants, and I strongly oppose their interference.
Hey David , LIBERALS < LOL you do know it was the Cons that did this , at least get your facts straight
Definitely we need to move to Halton
Yes we would love to be part of Burlington
Hamilton consider Waterdown as a small part and they provide very low services and they never consider this area as it deserves
Definitely we need to move to Halton
Don’t deserve this pathetic service provided by Hamilton region with this much of property taxes
Agree, it does not make any sense for Waterdown to be a part of Hamilton. It is closer to Burlington than to Hamilton. Most residents of Waterdown use most of their daily living amenities in Burlington due to close proximity to Burlington. Recently we had to go to the hospital in emergency and we requested paramedics if they can take us to Burlington because it is closer. Later we had to go to the Hamilton hospital and it was not only far from our Waterdown area but also a nightmare to travel there every day through very old and broken road infrastructure around 10 km radius of the hospital. I have not seen road infrastructure that bad before any where in Canada. Look at the road conditions even in Waterdown around down town and some patches of park side road, these are the two main roads of Waterdown, why the city is not fixing them. Not sure where all the hefty tax money is being spent. Taxes are more than anywhere in the GTA but the facilities are minimum.
I agree we should have never been part of Hamilton
There was totally decided by the government we didn’t have a say
That is right, Waterdown is close to alot of services in Burlington compare to Hamilton such as hospital, police station and paramedics. It was not long ago that a friend lost their mom in the neighborhood because paramedics couldn’t make it on time.
Friends, the vast majority of Waterdown residents and taxpayers have absolutely nothing in common with Hamilton. They shop in Burlington, work in Burlington or Mississauga or Toronto. Sure, Hamilton paid for some significant municipal infrastructure, but is getting that back each year with unconscionable property taxes and miniscule spending on municipal services to Waterdown residents.
Let us not lead one another down the garden path. Hamilton has nothing to do with Waterdown. Let’s tidy this up now rather than later.
Aldershot was considered part of Waterdown many years ago.High School students used to be sent to WH school rather than BHS.
The Burlington Municipal portion of our 2025 Property Tax bill has an increase of 7.52%, compounded year over year. This portion has gone up 65.10% since 2018, when our current mayor and council were 1st elected.
Then the Region of Halton gets added to our Municipal Property Tax bill.
Once the Municipal Tax and the Region of Halton Tax are added together, “the blended Tax”, is what Burlington residents will pay for 2025, and then appears/becomes a 5.62% tax increase for 2025.
This 5.62% Tax Increase is what our mayor and council wants you to focus on.
And not the 7.52% for the municipal portion only!!!
Don’t be fooled come the next municipal election in October 2026.
When I become Mayor of Burlington, I will invade Waterdown and rescue its citizens from an oppressive Left-of-Left government.
Please include Carlisle in that request to join Burlington.
Editor’s note: Why?
Beware of what you wish for. Our taxes are considerably higher than the powers that be keeping saying they are: cumulative tax increases since this council first arrived six long years ago: 65 percent.
In fact if we had a dollar for every time the mayor goes public with the misleading “blended” tax rate, including again today on CH Morning (hello media at CHCH – why are you nothing more than the mayor’s PR department?), we could put a big dent in funding the Bateman Boondoggle, and the seemingly endless spending spree of waste from city hall and this “look at me” mayor. How much do we spend on their advertising of themselves with their photos and their misleading statements they keep churning out?
Also, in Hamilton, you have some councillors who actually speak out and push back at their “strong power” mayor and the staff and attempt to reign in spending. We don’t. Here it seems, “The sky’s the limit” as Councillor Galbraith said during his slick — and hilarious — “walking through the forest before the developers destroy it” video with Councillor Nisan.