The Hamilton Waterfront Trust hasn’t been considered a charity for a while, but only recently changed its website to reflect its status with the Canada Revenue Agency.
Hamilton City Coun. Jason Farr, who also sits on the board of the Waterfront Trust, says the change in status happened last fall following an audit as “part of a long process done in concert with the CRA.”
“We likely should have changed our website a year and half ago but we just did that the other day,” Farr said, referencing a news report that revealed the change, which was not widely communicated at the time.
The trust, an organization with a mandate to connect residents with the water’s edge, is a combination of not-for-profit interests and two properties considered businesses.
LISTEN: Jason Farr joins the Bill Kelly Show with Jamie West
One location is home to Williams Fresh Cafe, and the other used to house the Sarcoa restaurant.
They are now businesses under the umbrella of the Hamilton Waterfront Trust Inc.
“The delay in updating the trust website may have been because it was preoccupied with the ongoing dispute with Sarcoa’s owners,” Farr said, referencing the recently shuttered restaurant venue.
That fight started in 2015 after complaints of loud music on the patio of the harbourside restaurant and has escalated into a legal matter that includes
the delay of rent payments.
It was also revealed this week that the dispute is linked to the Hamilton Waterfront Trust being in tax arrears to the city of $490,000.