‘Reduce, reuse and recycle:’ City considering changes to waste fees

As the City of Regina looks forward to the city-wide roll out of green bins for food and yard waste, city administration is taking a close look at the way fees are charged for waste services.

Currently, the cost of garbage pickup is included in property taxes, while recycling is included as a user fee on utility bills.

City administration is now recommending that be changed, to move all waste fees onto utility bills.

“The goal is to encourage residents to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste to extend the life of the landfill and protect the environment for generations to come,” said Kurtis Doney, the city’s director of water, waste and environment.

“Research has shown that if (a) user fee is used for all three services, it has the potential to increase waste diversion and to increase transparency.”

If people can see where their waste is going and are responsible for the cost, Doney said they can choose to divert more away from the landfill and into other streams.

If the recommendation is approved, there will be a choice of garbage bin size and a corresponding difference in cost on the utility bill – $193.45 per year for a 240L cart and $284.80 per yer for a 360L cart. That includes the fee for the recycling and food and yard waste bins, which is $91.25 per year.

If garbage service is moved from property taxes to utility bills, it will reduce property taxes by 3.16 per cent of a mill rate, or $8.9M in total.

Moving everything to the utility bills would also eliminate the need for the condo rebate program.

The administration’s recommendation includes a waste utility rebate program for seniors and people living with disabilities who fall below a low-income ceiling, and an enforcement program similar to what’s currently in place, which is heavy on education.

City administration is also recommending that the fee change take effect at the start of 2024, despite the composting bins expected to be rolled out in Sept. or Oct., 2023.

There are three other options up for consideration, which include putting all waste services onto property taxes, keeping garbage on property taxes and putting recycling and composting onto utility bills, and switching that around and putting garbage service on utility bills while moving recycling and compost to property taxes.

The report will go before the city’s executive committee on Wednesday next week, and if that committee forwards it on to council, a decision could come at the next meeting the following Wednesday.