Residential recycling fee dropped by South Huron

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By John Miner

South Huron residents will get a break

on their utility bill — at least for a while. In a split vote, council approved dropping

the residential recycling fee of $47.68 a year, effective March 1 this

year. But the reduction might not last long and future utility bill charges could end

up going higher. The move to cut the recycling fee portion of the utility bill for residents follows

a decision by the Ontario government to require producers of recyclable materials to pay the recycling cost instead of municipalities.

The shift in charges applies to residential materials. Industrial, commercial and institutional properties still have to pay for recycling services. With the change, it only makes sense

to cut the recycling fee for residents, said Coun. Marissa Vaughan who made

the motion.

“The reality is we are not being charged anymore for residential recycling so I don’t believe we should be passing that on to our residential users,” she said.

A staff report presented to council earlier in March suggested the utility bills be charged at the same level as in the past by shifting the amount charged for recycling to the amount charged for garbage collection. As a result, residents would see virtually no change in their utility bills.

Don Giberson, South Huron’s infrastructure and development manager, said curbside garbage collection in the municipality has been subsidized for years by revenue from the landfill. Reserve

funds from the landfill operation have been basically plundered to fund the curbside program, he said. That leaves the municipality vulnerable to not having the money required in the future when the landfill has to be expanded or replaced. “We have a deep hole that has been created and this is an attempt to get out of it,” Giberson said.

Vaughan’s motion approved by council calls for a detailed financial review of waste management and landfill tipping fees. The motion noted the user fee rates

currently collected do not appear to cover operational costs. Arguing that utility bill fees should be maintained at their current level and not changed, Coun. Aaron Neeb said cutting the fees now might require a bigger jump in garbage charges in the future to

cover costs. “If we reduce the costs, that money still needs to be recouped and it is going

to be recouped with more interest down the road,” he said.

“We could see rates changing drastically

over the next six months to a year.”

Staying with the current charges provides ratepayers with consistency, he said. Coun. Ted Oke suggested going halfway — cutting the charges to residents by 50 per cent and putting 50 per cent

into reserves for the landfill. “Someday we are going to have to replace or expand our landfill and we need to start building up our reserves for that purpose as well,” he said.

The motion approved by council sets the annual recycling fee for industrial, commercial and institutional users at $71.40 per bin.