City increasing waste disposal, electrical transmission fees

While property taxes may not be seeing much of an increase in the next few years, electrical costs, waste disposal fees and business licences will all be going up as of Jan. 1.

City council voted unanimously Monday to increase electrical transmission access fees by 15 per cent. Residential waste disposal will now cost an additional $7 per month. And business licence fees will increase by three per cent to $193 per year to residents and $774 per year for non-residents.

These changes will take effect as of midnight on Jan. 1.

Mayor Chris Spearman said the increase in rates is necessary to keep up with the increasing costs of operations.

“I believe these rates are fair,” Spearman said after the rate changes were approved by council. “Business licence fees were reduced about four years ago; so this is minimal in terms of their increase. The distribution tariff is largely determined by AESO, but we need to ensure our costs remain competitive. That 15 per cent will be an increase on the fixed portion of your bill only. With waste collection, we are providing additional services and we’re paying for the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) sorting centre. All of that is included in the waste and recycling charge.”

Spearman felt the increases would be manageable for most Lethbridge residents.

“We all have opinions, but certainly there is a cost of doing business,” he said. “There is a cost to managing waste. People have to understand that there are costs associated with those services, and we have to charge a reasonable amount for them.”

Spearman said the City would be evaluating all its services in the next few years, and will be looking for further efficiencies. He warns service cuts in some areas will be on the table for consideration.

“We will be examining the cost of services and determining whether we are providing too high a level of service, or whether we should even be providing that service at all,” explained Spearman. “In the next two years there will be numerous costing reviews and we anticipate there will be some changes to the services the City currently supplies. At some point, we have to make a decision. Can you keep charging more all the time? Or do we have to do things differently?”