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Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Members of Oxford County Council discussed a potential one dollar increase on the cost of putting a bag of garbage out on the curb for nearly an hour at last week’s regular meeting. The motion was defeated, as was another motion to have staff take a closer look at the current garbage collection system.
Both motions went down after identical five to five recorded votes, something which visibly frustrated Warden Marcus Ryan during last week’s regular council meeting.
“One of, if not the main role, of a head of council is to deliver effective and efficient council meetings and I think sometimes we all, elected officials and residents, get caught up in the politics of what we do and the popularity of the decisions we make but, in the end, we are there to govern.”
Ryan added governing means passing policy and budgets and then hand those decisions over to staff to deliver services.
“I tend to get frustrated sometimes when we are not putting our best foot forward to govern. We have a responsibility to residents when we get elected to sit in that chair and tax them for tens of millions of dollars. We need to come (to meetings) prepared having done our homework, debate in good faith and make a decision.”
The report stated the hike was needed to combat program cost increases as a result of growth, inflationary pressures and upcoming changes to curbside waste collection services. Since 2021, annual program expenses have outpaced bag tag revenues and without an increase in bag tag fees, reserve funds will be nearly depleted by the end of 2025. The report also warned that if the new fee was not approved, future program deficits would be funded from property taxes.
Along with Ryan, South-West Oxford Mayor and Councillor David Mayberry was one the biggest supporters of the 50 per cent increase. He explained the actual cost of the waste collection program has been rising, but the bag fee has not.
“The reality is you are going to pay the cost whether you want to or not. Whether it be by bag tag or taxes, I would rather have it right out front where I can see it. Every time I put a tag on a bag, I will say to myself, is there anything here that doesn’t need to be, or can I make it last for another week?”
Last week’s motion was to increase the bag tag fee on May 1 of this year, something that drew the ire of some councillors since the 2025 budget has already been approved. Mayberry isn’t giving up on the proposal and has tabled a motion for the March 12 meeting of council to raise the cost of a bag of garbage to three dollars as of January 1, 2026.
Mayberry said the ultimate goal is to divert as much as possible from the landfill, lengthening the life of the Salford location.
After the first motion failed, Tillsonburg Mayor and County Councillor Deb Gilvesy put forward a second motion for a report with other options such as a hybrid solution, which would explore one free back to ratepayers per collection cycle, with additional bags requiring a $2 to $3 tag.
Her motion was the second to be defeated in a 5-5 vote.
Admittedly not a fan of bag tags, Gilvesy told the Post bag tags should be part of a review of the entire system, which is what her motion was suggesting.
Debate on the failed motions was heated at times and one of those opposed was Coun. Deb Tait. She voted against the 2025 budget which saw an increase of 6.6 percent and was offended at the timing of the proposal.
“I find this offensive, the comments being made about this to the taxpayer. This is not appropriate. They are not aware. To implement it in May is unacceptable. The taxpayer should have some type of warning, especially with the high taxes we have implemented on them.”
Tait supported the motion to have staff bring back a new report with more information including the possibility of reducing the 45 per cent administrative cost to run the bag tag program.
“There are so many unknowns. The reason for the report was to find out more information to see if there were savings.”
Coun. Phil Schaefer also voted against the one dollar fee increase but added he supported the motion for a report with more information. His main concern is the life of the landfill.
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