Reversal on rubbish: council kills user fees

Saskatoon city council reversed a controversial decision to charge user fees for trash collection, creating the possibility of a 2020 property tax increase near five per cent.

Council voted 6-5 Monday night to rescind a decision from four weeks earlier to introduce the new fees, which would have paid for trash pickup for single-family homes.

Council voted 6-5 in November to implement the fees, but Coun. Darren Hill signalled a few days later he wanted to rescind his vote.

Hill suggested Monday the need for a new landfill has been overestimated and that the variable cart sizes proposed for garbage don’t reflect a “true ‘pay as you throw.’ ”

“We’ve been holding the fear of a new landfill and additional costs over the heads of residents for years,” Hill said.

Coun. Randy Donauer proposed that the decision to fund a new organic waste collection program for single-family homes through property tax also be rescinded.

Council rejected that proposal by a 6-5 vote.

“I just don’t want us making one decision in isolation of another,” Donauer explained.

Under the hybrid approach approved by council this fall, new user fees were expected to pay for trash collection and property taxes were expected to cover the new organics pickup program.

That approach wasn’t expected to result in a property tax increase or decrease because the new fees would be paying for trash collection.

Funding both programs through property tax, as now appears to be city hall’s only option, is expected to result in a 4.7 per cent property tax increase in 2020.

As the 6-5 votes indicate, council remains divided over the issue.

“I hear repeatedly that people are ready to move on,” Mayor Charlie Clark said. “I’ve heard loud and clear people want diversion.”

The organics program would only be available for single-family homes, but the property tax increase to pay for it will be felt by all property classes. The city’s chief financial officer, Kerry Tarasoff, said property tax and user fees are the only real options to pay for an ongoing program.

City hall is consulting businesses and apartment and townhouse owners about organics pickup programs.

Council heard Monday it will cost $125 million to establish a new landfill and to close the existing one.

Council approved a new organics pickup and compost program for single-family homes in October. Then in November, council backed

I hear repeatedly that people are ready to move on. I’ve heard loud and clear people want diversion.

paying for the organics program through property taxes and adding user fees for trash collection.

The North Saskatoon Business Association and the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce wrote letters to council urging the decision on user fees not be reversed.