Downsizing to smaller curbside garbage cans could be cheaper in the new year.
According to a staff report that will be tabled at Monday night's city council meeting, eliminating the $30 change fee would be "immaterial" to the rates collected through the solid waste utility bills.
Mayor Lyn Hall brought the idea forward in September, arguing that making it easier for residents to switch to smaller containers could help promote waste reduction.
Financial staff have estimated that getting rid of the fee would deprive the city of less than $10,000 per year.
In 2010, a fee increase prompted 751 requests for a smaller garbage container, which "strained solid waste services' standard workload with respect to the distribution, cleaning and administration of cart exchanges and the actual delivery of the new carts to customers was well beyond established service levels," said the staff report.
The impact of the fee increase tapered off, to an average of 207 requests for a garbage cart exchange between 2012 and 2014, the report said.
The cost to the city of switching carts is about $79 per exchange, according to staff. If removing the change fee prompts more than the average number of residents to downsize, an additional part-time staff person would be needed and would be funded through the solid waste utility.
At their last meeting on Nov. 16, city council approved a two-per-cent increase to garbage collection fees for the next three years.
Between 2016 and 2018, automated collection rates will be going from $71.50 to $74.50 per bill for small garbage containers; from $94 to $98 for medium-sized containers; and from $114 to $119 for large containers. Rates for small, medium and large containers have stayed at $70, $92 and $112, respectively, since the last one-per-cent increase in 2013.
Monday night's agenda also includes an amendment to the fees and charges bylaw to allow for Hall's request to lower the seniors' admission age at city pools from 65 to 60 years. There was no financial information in the staff report with respect to making the change.
