What are we proposing?

Council is proposing a new Alcohol Fees Bylaw (Bylaw) to set fees and charges for alcohol licences in Hamilton.

This Bylaw would allow Council to set the amount it charges to alcohol licence holders (e.g. bars, alcohol stores and supermarkets), to help cover costs relating to alcohol licensing.

Council currently use the fees set by legislation 11 years ago, these fees are no longer recovering a reasonable amount of the costs of licensing activities. This means every time Council processes an alcohol licence it costs more than the fee paid by the licensee.

Council is proposing to increase alcohol licensing charges by 34% in July 2025 to recover 95% of current costs. The remaining 5% would continue to be covered by rates.

If the Bylaw is adopted alcohol licensing fees would increase as shown in the Draft Alcohol Fees Bylaw 2025.

Hamilton City Council (Council) is seeking feedback following the development of the Draft Alcohol Fees Bylaw 2025 in accordance with the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 (the Act), the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Fee-setting Bylaws) Order 2013, Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Fees) Regulations 2013, and the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA 2002).

Before making any final decisions we would like your input.

Options at a glance

The table above depicts only the first two years because they represent the biggest change to fees and cost recovery.

Next steps

Staff will collect and analyse all feedback at the close of the submission period.

The analysis of this feedback will be presented to the 10 April 2025 meeting of the Regulatory and Hearings Committee. At this meeting, submitters who want to speak to their written submission will be able to do so.

The Council will then consider all the views and make a decision on the Bylaw.