qathet Regional District’s finance committee is recommending the regional board approve revisions to the solid waste regulation and tipping fee bylaw to increase garbage rates.
At the September 20 finance committee meeting, committee members voted on solid waste tipping fees, solid waste minimum tipping fees, and Lasqueti Island rates.
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall made some observations regarding the minimum solid waste tipping, which will remain at $7.50 from 2023 to 2026, but will have the maximum load weight for the minimum fee decrease from 30.612 kilograms in 2023 to 28.846 kilograms in 2026.
“I’m just wondering, how those, in practice, are going to be administered?” asked Fall. “When you decrease a load from 30.612 kilograms to 28.846 kilograms, how is that done on the ground?”
Manager of financial services Linda Greenan said it had been discussed with Augusta Recyclers, which is the contractor for the waste. She said with the three digits after the decimals, they can program their tipper so it looks at the maximum load weight.
“They can calibrate it so that it works out to $7.50 and knows when it goes above that weight,” said Greenan.
In terms of the increases in large tipping fees, the committee is recommending that it start at $245 per tonne effective January 1, 2023, going up in $5 increments annually to January 1, 2026, when it would be $260 per tonne.
