New West residents and businesses will be facing hikes to their utility rates in 2022.
On Monday, council gave three readings to the engineering user fees and rates amendment bylaw and to the electrical utility amendment bylaw.
Harji Varn, the city’s director of finance, recently told council that a “blended” increase of 5.3% is proposed for the city’s utility rates.
“From our 2021 current average rate, it will be increasing by about $179,” she said.
For 2022, the city is proposing increases to the electrical utility rate of 2.8% and to the water and sewer utility rates of 7% each, all of which are consistent with the previously approved five-year plan.
However, the 14.5% increase being proposed for the solid waste utility is higher than the 10% increase that had been previously envisioned in the five-year plan.
“At that time we did not have the mandate to move forward with the new recycling glass collection,” Varn said. “The glass collection is the driver for the 2022 rate change. That is about $12 per household, on average, for the whole year, so about $1 a month for a multi-family.”
According to Varn, the upfront investment includes $425,000 to buy a special vehicle to collect the glass and recycling bins for glass, so residents can get the door-to-door collection that’s required for the city to achieve its reduced contamination goals.
When the proposed utility increases were first presented to council, some residents questioned the cost of launching the new glass recycling service versus the cost of operating the former recycling depot.
The Record contacted city staff to get details about the cost of operating the recycling depot prior to its closure in 2020. The city provided an explanation, but no figures.
“With regards to the question regarding recycling costs pre-2020 versus the new costs, I’ll start by saying, it’s not apples to apples comparison, as the issue is more around the qualitative benefits around reduction in contamination rates and compliance,” Varn said in an email to the Record. “For less than a $1 per month per household for single-family residents, our staff will provide a separate bin and come collect the glass from all residents in New Westminster versus relying on the honour system of folks dropping the glass at a recycling depot for free (not factoring in the residents time and transportation costs to drop it off), which is the pre-2020 cost comparison.”
A July report to council stated that Recycle BC audits showed an “increasing trend of high contamination” of the city’s curbside collection program, including a 14.1% contamination rate in the fourth quarter of 2020. Because this is “significantly” above the maximum contamination threshold of 3% allowed under the city’s agreement with Recycle BC, the city could face financial penalties if the contamination rate is not reduced.
“Upon careful analysis of how many residents actually separate and drop glass off versus how much glass turns up in the mixed recycling bins, it was clear that the contamination rates were on the rise and therefore requiring the city to step up with this program to continue the education and benefits around the recycling efforts for the overall environmental benefits to the city as a whole,” Varn said in a statement to the Record.
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter @TheresaMcManus
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