A planned increase to water and sewer utility fees is being flushed.
On Monday, city council's finance and audit committee approved a plan to do away with the annual three per cent hikes on the books for 2016 and 2017.
User fees for the city's water and sewer services fund operating costs, debt repayments, maintenance expenses and a contingency fund.
Rates were raised in 2013 and 2014 by 19 per cent and 18 per cent this year with the goal of making those utilities self-sustainable by user fees as opposed to contributions from the general tax levy.
That goal of being fully funded was reached with this year's increase, said finance director Kris Dalio.
An annual average reinvestment of $5.04 million is required for the sewer utility, while the water service requires an annual injection of $6.8 million for infrastructure, facilities and equipment.
With the past three increases, the fees are now contributing $6.3 million to the sewer capital reserve and $9 million to the water fund.
Mayor Lyn Hall said he asked the financial department to take a look at those fees within a couple of months of taking office.
"Now that we have that particular utility completely funded, it will give us the opportunity to pass that back to the residents in seeing no increase," Hall said.
"And quite frankly we've heard loud and clear from a number of people - particularly people that are on fixed incomes, seniors in our community, and for that matter a lot of other folks - about the increase we did during our last term. It was quite substantial."
The five-year bylaw that set the fee increases was approved in late 2012, but bylaws can be changed at any time, said Dalio. In taking another look at the numbers, the rate of inflation wasn't as high as was estimated at the time, he said. The department also received updated numbers on reinvestment needs.
"I think this is a good news story for us," said Coun. Frank Everitt.
"If we met our objectives then it makes sense to move back to zero per cent increase for those and people will receive that well."
But while water and sewer rates will remain stagnant, solid waste fees will likely rise.
The finance and audit committee also approved moving forward with preparing a two-per-cent increase to garbage rates for the next three years. There was a one-per-cent increase to the solid waste utility fees in 2013 and no increase in 2014 and 2015.
That partially was due to the city handing over operation of the Quinn Street and Vanway transfer stations to the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, said Dalio.
"We had built rates to allow for the full funding of the utility but that was also back when the city was in charge of the transfer stations and that was not a money-making operation," he said.
But between the regional district instituting annual increases to tipping fees at the Foothills dump (they're going up seven per cent next year) and the city's need for new garbage trucks, keeping the solid waste fees flat is no longer an option, said Dalio.
The two-per-cent increase is recommended as an annual event through 2018, beginning next year.
Both changes to the comprehensive fees and charges bylaw to remove the water and sewer increase and to implement the solid waste fee increase still need to be approved by city council.
