This story initially appeared on Canada’s National Observer and is a part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

A plan to cost Toronto owners and companies for paved surfaces on their properties is making a public backlash, a deluge of negative international media attention, and even derisive feedback from Donald Trump Jr.

The outcry reached such a crescendo final week, town canceled public hearings on the tax, which is meant to assist offset the a whole bunch of tens of millions spent managing stormwater and basement flooding.

Dubbed “the rain tax” by critics, together with the previous US president’s son on X, a SkyNews host also condemned the plan and discouraged folks from visiting Canada’s largest metropolis saying: “You thought it couldn’t get any worse … Don’t go to Toronto because they’re going to tax you when it rains.”

The quantity of laborious floor space would decide the contentious stormwater cost on a property which doesn’t take up water, equivalent to roofs, driveways, parking heaps, or concrete landscaping.

“When we get a big rainstorm, basements flood, roads flood, sewage overflows and runs into the lake or on our rivers,” mentioned Toronto mayor Olivia Chow in an online video post on X. “Stormwater slides off paved surfaces instead of absorbing into the ground. It overwhelms our water infrastructure, causes damage to your home and the environment.”

The new price would regulate water payments to cut back water consumption charges and add a stormwater cost primarily based on property dimension and laborious floor space.

Online public consultations have been to be adopted by public conferences. However, after lower than per week, the web consultations have been paused and public conferences canceled. The city claims the delay is required so employees can discover a technique to marry the brand new price with town’s broader climate-resilience technique.

Chow mentioned she would like town provide residents monetary incentives to plant gardens of their backyards or set up permeable pavement to assist drain the rain.

“I don’t think it’s fair to have a stormwater policy that asks homeowners to pay while letting businesses with massive parking lots off the hook,” mentioned Chow. Many companies with massive paved areas, equivalent to parking heaps, pay no water payments and subsequently don’t contribute to stormwater administration.

“That is why I am asking Toronto Water to come back to city council with a plan that supports more green infrastructure, prevents flooding, and keeps your water bills low,” Chow mentioned.

In final 12 months’s city budget, a 10-year plan (2023 to 2032) allotted $4.3 billion for stormwater administration, together with the $2.11 billion Basement Flooding Protection Program. Last 12 months alone, town invested $225.3 million within the basement program.

Other close by cities, like Mississauga, Vaughan, and Markham, have had stormwater expenses for a very long time.

In an e-mail response, the City of Vaughan mentioned its stormwater cost helps quite a few packages and initiatives throughout town to assist shield the atmosphere, property, and water high quality. Vaughan’s 2024 stormwater charge is $64.20 yearly for a indifferent single residential unit, a rise from final 12 months’s charge of $58.63, town mentioned.