qathet Regional District’s finance committee is recommending that the tipping fee for municipal solid waste be increased to $280 per tonne from the current $250.
At the June 5 finance committee meeting, directors considered the increase, and that the committee recommended to the board that the solid waste regulation and tipping fee bylaw be amended to change the maximum load weights applicable to the municipal solid waste minimum tipping fee change to 26.786 kilograms.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said there had been discussion about additional costs for solid waste and that the staff recommendation had come back with a good amount. He asked if there was any justifiable amount that could be potentially higher.
“I’m not saying let’s change it now, I’m just thinking for the future,” said Gisborne. “Is that something staff is going to be paying attention to and then next year we can potentially see, because it’s not just the cost of getting garbage down to Washington, it’s also all the other costs associated with having the garbage dealt with.”
Manager of asset management and strategic initiatives Arnold Schwabe said staff members are reviewing all tipping fees and there will be a comprehensive report coming in the future that will deal with more of that information.
City of Powell River director George Doubt said he wanted to explain why he supported the initiative.
“It’s because to me, we should move more toward a user pay system rather than taxation to pay for it,” said Doubt. “We’ve spent a lot of time talking about what the appropriate amount that the tipping fee should be and I’m willing to support this, moving towards user pay rather than general taxation.”
Electoral Area E director and finance committee chair Andrew Fall said he wanted to thank staff for looking into this in detail and coming up with a good number to settle on.
“I agree that it is something we should keep an eye on and make sure users pay for waste,” said Fall. “Our goal is to get toward zero waste so we need to make sure at least those who produce the waste are paying the full cost.”
The committee unanimously recommended the fee increase to the regional board.
According to a staff report, the municipal solid waste tipping fee for 2024 is $250 per tonne. This is $23 per tonne short of direct costs the regional district incurs for solid waste handling, hauling and tipping at the landfill in Washington State, the report stated. Increasing the tipping fee by $30 per tonne would cover the direct costs noted and provide $7 per tonne, or $44,000 annually of revenue that can be used to offset indirect costs and other programs associated with the regional district’s municipal solid waste programs.
It was recommended that the minimum charge for municipal solid waste tipping fees will remain at $7.50, but the weight allowed under the minimum fee will decrease from 30 kilograms to 26.786 kilograms.
The justification for a minimum charge is that the administrative function and cost of processing small loads is similar to larger loads, the report stated.
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