The City of Toronto has formally kicked off its 2017 budget process with proposals from three departments, including one that will likely spark debate at council. On Friday, City staff presented operating and capital budgets for Solid Waste Management Services, Toronto Water and the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) to the Budget Committee. And of those three, Coun. Gord Perks says the solid waste plan is the one that’s going to “need the most work.”
Staff says the city needs new trucks and has proposed a $25 fee to change the size of a household’s garbage bin and an $8 fee to dispose of bulk items, like couches and mattresses. “I think Torontonians should take a good hard look at the budget here,” Perks said. “I’m concerned that for the very first time Torontonians are going to have to pay a fee if they do the good thing of moving from a big garbage bin down to a small garbage bin.
“We’ve always offered that as a free service to encourage recycling. It looks like we might be abandoning that incentive.” Perks said the consultants, KPMG, don’t understand the City’s priorities and the increases are a result of the City not putting enough money into the future costs of processing organics and maintaining landfill capacity over the past six years. “Whenever you cheap out, it catches up with you in the end,” he said. “This is a bit of a catchup budget.”
Budget Chief Gary Crawford agreed there’s work to be done on the solid waste budget over the next couple of months. “I don’t want to see major increases. That’s a non-starter for me,” he told reporters at City Hall. “As you saw, there are some increases here, and that’s going to be some of the work that we’re going to have to be looking at.”
Toronto Water has recommended a five-per-cent rate increase for 2017, which is lower than the nine-per-cent hike over the past few years.
Perks called it a “fair deal” and “exactly within the ball park of what we expected.”
The money will fund continued water and sewer main upgrades, improvements to drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, and fix the problem of basement flooding.
The TPA’s proposed budget includes funding for building 44 new lots, expanding and redeveloping 15 others, and greening existing ones.
To read the full story, visit http://www.680news.com/2016/11/04/councillor-slams-proposed-25-fee-downsize-garbage-bin/.