After years of informal town hall votes and surveys, Brampton residents could get a chance to vote on adding nearly $100 to their tax bills to pay for windrow snow removal.
Windrows – the piles created in front of homes when plows push snow aside – can be a seasonal nuisance as they block vehicles from entering and leaving driveways, and the City of Brampton has been considering adding windrow removal to its snow-clearing schedule since at least 2024.
It would cost around $20.3 million annually to remove windrows, leading to a property tax increase of $92 per household, the city says.
And while a recent telephone town hall meeting found 41 per cent of some 5,800 households were in favour of the added service and costs, deciding whether or not to add windrow clearing could be up to Brampton voters in the upcoming Oct. 26 municipal election.
During the city’s 2026 budget meetings, Brampton City Council passed a motion asking staff to report back on “potential means and process for the addition of a question on the ballot…with respect to city-wide windrow snow clearance service.”
A report coming to council says the question could be added to the 2026 municipal election ballot, and would cost tax payers $107,000, including “expenses for marketing, communication, materials, and additional staff.”
The report will go to council for consideration on Wednesday.
Back in 2024, some 52.6 per cent of respondents at a town hall with 7,608 respondents said they were in favour of the added services and costs for windrow removal, while 42 per cent were against.
The city’s proposed budget includes a property tax increase of 1.5 per cent, or approximately $111 on the average residential tax bill in 2026, not including the increase from the Region of Peel.
The proposed tax hike follows a 13 per cent drop in Brampton Transit passengers and revenues last year, with the city projecting a year-end operating deficit of $17.5 million in 2025.
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