Waste management plan has trashed trust in our city

Using trickery and sleight-ofhand that would make a magician proud, our political leaders conflate services, commingle costs and separate them right in front of our eyes, then blur the bottom line with such ease that only the budget makers know where the true costs reside. Or who should pay?

We understand the connotation of phrases such as “tax grab.” They are the refuge of anti-tax crusaders who posit that we pay enough taxes and if politicians want money to spend on a worthwhile project, they should find it by reducing waste and drawing on the savings.

But no matter how you slice it, some decisions are what they are: a blatant tax grab.

Before the Miller bins became a landscape fixture, waste management costs were covered by property taxes. The majority of us embraced the blue box, sorted our waste and agreed with the sentiment that Toronto should take care of its own waste and not dump on its neighbours.

When Miller pushed for a 70 per cent waste diversion, the sentiment had resonance. City staff pointed to one problem. The new initiative, featuring multiple waste streams, would cost an extra $54 million. A 2.8 per cent tax hike would wipe out the problem, but Miller had promised a hike at the rate of inflation. With other city costs rising, he was stuck.

So the bean counters devised a plan, specifically designed to deliver the extra cash without raising alarm — a tax without it being called a tax.

At the time of the change, Toronto homeowners could put up to six bags of trash at the curb every two weeks, plus the blue box stuff. Property taxes paid the entire system cost of $183.5 million.

The city removed waste costs from the property tax bill and calculated that this meant the average household was owed $209 each. (Set aside the fact this was unfair to those paying taxes at a rate several times the average.) In return, waste was now to be funded on a user-pay basis, like water.

But here is the rub. The waste system would now cost $54 million more — and that money would not have to come from property taxes. All homeowners would get a $209 rebate or credit. But the new bill for waste would cost more — a lot more than $209 for anyone putting out more than the equivalent of one bag of waste.

Backed by staff actuaries who continuously figure out the sweet spot to generate guaranteed annual profits, council each year has adjusted the rate for waste — and increased the levy without calling it a tax. This year, even those with the tiniest of garbage bins — the super recyclers who were told that the new system was designed to reward them and hold them up as examples to the rest of the city — will have their fees jacked up.

By 2021 they could be paying $273 more — even if they don’t use the darn thing or only put out garbage once every six weeks.

Those with large families, who need a large bin, have always been targeted and harmed by the system. By next year, their bill will top $500 a year — more than double the rebate.

City staff admitted they created the system to discourage homeowners from choosing the most cost-effective tiny bin. If too many opted for that bin, the city would not yield the $54 million it needed, staff told The Star.

Of course, residents who feel the system is unfair have devised many payback tactics. A 2015 waste audit suggests they are filling their large bins with all kind of trash, including recyclables.

More than a decade later, diversion rates are still only 66 per cent for single family homes, 24 per cent for apartment and condo dwellers. The waste bill jumps every year. But nobody calls it a tax.