User-fee trash talkers need to do the math

You’ll end up paying more in taxes if new landfill is needed

Saskatoon folks who are panicking over city hall studying the prospect of user fees for trash collection will be dismayed to learn the initiative has already been approved — 10 years ago.

In November 2007, city council approved a 20-year plan to reduce the amount of waste headed to the landfill. That initiative included a plan to implement some sort of user-pay system for garbage pickup in two to five years.

The user fees were never implemented in Saskatoon and it seems fair to regard the waste diversion plan as an utter failure. Saskatoon still ranks ahead of only Regina among major cities when it comes to diverting waste from the landfill.

Saskatoon diverts just 22 per cent of material from the landfill, abysmally short of its goal of 70 per cent.

When council approved the waste diversion plan in 2007, more than 150 Ontario communities had already moved to a user-pay system. It’s unlikely any of them did it because the move would be popular. They did it because it was cheaper than establishing new landfills.

Toronto resisted such a move, but implemented a user-pay garbage pickup system in 2008, ironically just after Saskatoon approved its waste diversion plan. Toronto now boasts a system where residents have the choice of four sizes of garbage collection receptacle, with a cheaper fee for smaller containers.

If you throw out more garbage in Toronto, you pay more and have a financial incentive to throw out less.

Saskatoon residents who oppose user fees are essentially supporting higher property taxes. The math is fairly straightforward.

City hall administration has dubbed its study — yes, it’s just a study at this point — “converting waste management to a utility.” That means it would operate similar to the city’s water and power utilities. You don’t expect other people to pay for your water and power use through their property taxes, so why should trash collection be different?

The user-pay concept would move trash collection off of property tax and connect use with payment. In theory, at least, property taxes should go down.

Here’s the math part:

The city budgeted $7.46 million this year for trash collection and managing the landfill.

Six years ago, city hall proposed a plan to spend $54.6 million to squeeze 40 more years of life out of the existing landfill, which was facing a 10- to 15-year lifespan at the time.

Extending the life of the landfill was seen as a cheaper option than establishing a new one, which was estimated then at $75 million. That estimate did not include the cost of closing the current landfill site and maintaining it.

The problem with that plan is that most of it lacked a funding source, while the rest was supposed to be funded by increased fees to dump trash at the landfill. Landfill revenues, unfortunately, have failed to yield the expected results due to competition from the two landfills north and south of the city.

Meanwhile, we now know the cost of just closing the current landfill site is $26 million; an updated estimate on establishing a new one is expected this summer.

When you call your councillor to complain about the idea of trash collection fees, you had better suggest a way to find at least $100 million for a new landfill.

Moose Jaw appears to have moved fairly painlessly this spring to a user-pay system with pickup every two weeks.

Early indications suggest such a move will not be so easy in Saskatoon.

Coun. Troy Davies has identified himself as an opponent of the idea and says residents have loudly made their opposition known.

Saskatoon city hall also faces a substantial credibility problem in establishing a new utility, given it is becoming increasingly addicted to funnelling money from its water and power utilities back into the operating budget.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation refers to this practice as a “backdoor tax.”

City hall and council face a steep challenge to convince wasteful residents they won’t be paying more with user fees.