It’s likely going to cost you more to have your trash and yard waste disposed of in Rossland.
The City of Rossland is considering boosting rates for solid and yard waste collection that could see a 10 per cent overall increase to disposal fees.
A new bylaw calling for the increases was to be discussed at Monday’s city council meeting.
The new rates would see solid waste collection rising from $63.14 to $65.03, an increase of about three per cent.
Yard and garden waste collection will be rising from $16 per year per dwelling unit to $22.02 annually, an increase of around 37 per cent.
In addition to the flat rate service fee, users wishing curbside pickup shall purchase “contractor stickers,” the bylaw says.
“Revenues for solid waste have always matched costs, as rates are tied to number of users,” says a staff summary of the issue.
“[A]nnual fees collected for services related to this bylaw can be broken down as follows: 80 per cent for current residential solid waste services, 20 per cent for current yard and garden waste services.”
There have been no rate increases since 2014.
While the share of revenues the city collects from yard waste has been set for years at 20 per cent, staff warn that “costs for this service are increasing as yard and garden waste increases.
“Therefore, in order to maintain a sustainable service, it is recommended that yard and garden rates also increase so there is an overall increase of 10 per cent in the ‘overall’ garbage utility fee charged to users.”
The increase comes as the city reviews its waste management collection system and prepares to negotiate a new waste agreement. The current agreement with the Alpine Group expires next June.
And that may not be the end of the increases, as staff call the bylaw setting new rates an “interim measure.”
“[T]he proposed rates suggested above will most likely need to be re‐adjusted again when the city receives submissions in the spring of 2020 that reflect the expected contract revisions (mostly related to cost) of the service provider of choice at that time,” staff warn.
If the bylaw is adopted by council it would come into effect Jan. 1.