| Utility rates going up again on Feb. 1 |
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| Local Content - Local News |
| Written by Garrett Simmons |
| Wednesday, 27 January 2010 15:30 |
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You know that notice you received that utility rates were going up three per cent as of Jan. 1, 2010, well, it turns out it should have been 4.5 per cent. That is what Taber town council learned Monday night at its regular meeting, as after much debate, an additional 1.5-per-cent increase was tacked on to water, wastewater and solid waste utility fees, effective Feb. 1, after a 5-1 vote. Mayor Ray Bryant, along with Couns. John Papp, Abe Andres, Louie Tams and Murray Rochelle voted for the motion, while Coun. Terry Sergeant was alone in his opposition. In the end, however, it was a decision no one on council felt very good about, as nearly every option brought before the group involved some sort of sacrifice. Taber's public services director, Rob Cressman, said an adjustment was needed, both in utility rates and increases to tipping fees at the landfill, which were passed unanimously by council, after additional information came to light that showed the solid-waste function of the Town of Taber to be in a deficit position of $77,300. Traditionally, that function runs at a surplus. "I certainly apologize for the timing of this information," Cressman told council. "It is far from ideal, but we bring it up today because operating like this throughout the entire year is not sustainable." Based on the Tangible Capital Assets strategy presented in December to the Taber and District Waste Management Authority, the town was faced with increased and unbudgeted building and equipment amortization expenses of $12,645 in each of 2009 and 2010, for a total of $25,290. Council had approved $21,630 annually as contributions to reserves for building and equipment replacement but under the new TCA requirements, the amount approved at the Dec. 16 Waste Management Authority meeting was $34,275 annually. Also, based on complete tonnage data for 2007/2008, the town is seeing a trend towards a reduction in waste received at its facilities. What would appear to be a positive trend, coupled with increasing costs of waste disposal, has resulted in an increased deficit for the waste-disposal function. As a result of the increase to equipment and building reserve contributions and the current tipping fees, administration forecast a $77,300 deficit for 2010. With the increase in tipping fees, the overall municipal budget shortfall was decreased to just over $66,000. General garbage and shingles will now cost $83.50 per tonne, up from $69.35, while dry goods will go from $29.40 to $43.25 per tonne. Asphalt and concrete will go from $45.35 to $33.25, the lone decrease. Those adjustments in tipping fees meant other options had to be explored to make up the difference. One option was to simply leave the situation alone, and correct the shortfall next year. Dale Culler, the town's corporate services director, explained that would mean possibly bigger rate increases for 2011. "That's the dilemma we face in deferring. You reduce the impact this year but it compounds itself in 2011." What ever way the situation was explained, it was a tough pill for council to swallow. "I don't like any of the options but the fact remains, we are going to have to pay more for garbage," said Tams, who added the practice of dealing with refuse every step of the way is only going to get more expensive. Bryant added it is tough to justify another utility-rate increase, so soon after the last one was agreed upon in budget deliberations. "I hate to go back to the public," he said before he cast his vote. "We haven't had tipping-rate increase for a number of years, so I can live with that, but I'm reluctant to make further changes to utility rates or taxes." But for others on council, the issues was not focuses on utility increases or tipping fees, but the mere fact Taberites have to change their habits, and produce less waste, which in turn would save money for the town. Under a new agreement, the town is shipping waste to the County of Newell, a longer drive than the previous practice of shipping it to Lethbridge. Newell's rate per tonne, however, is significantly cheaper, which has resulted in a cost saving for Taber. Coun. John Papp, however, added the less garbage produced in town would mean less trips to the County of Newell, and even more cost savings. "We have to do a better job educating the public about recycling, to decrease the tonnage we have to ship." Papp added the solution would be make the back-alley bins smaller, and begin to charge residents for extra bags of garbage. "We have to, as a council, make these changes," he said, and added if the current dumpsters stay in back alleys, people will continue to fill them with garbage week after week, due to the convenience factor. Tams added people who currently recycle deserve a pat on the back, but added others compound the problem with piles upon piles of grass clippings, which are in turn transported out of town, while others use the town compost piles as makeshift garbage dumps. "I've seen people dumping other garbage there," he said, and added it is not uncommon to find any sort of garbage there, including items as large at mattresses. Bryant added the garbage problem could grow more severe in the future, if a long-term deal with Newell is not reached. He added if Newell's rates per tonne climb to where Lethbridge's have gone, over the $50-per-tonne range, Taber is really going to see a dramatic impact. The mayor suggested two other options, having administration simply find $77,000 to take out of the 2010 budget, or taking the money out of reserves at the end of the year, that did not factor in to the final decision. Other options presented included a 10.5-per-cent increase to the solid waste utility fee, while another option would have seen a one-per-cent increase to water, wastewater and stormwater utility fees, and a four-per-cent increase in the solid waste fee. The last option presented was a 3.25-per-cent increase in the property-t |
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