The Solid Waste and Water Budgets, also known as the rate-supported budgets, will be debated at City Council this November 29. You can find the budgets online here: http://www.toronto.ca/budget2012/. The Operating and Capital Budgets, which include many of the programs we know and use, will be made available on Monday November 28.
See the public notice regarding changes to your water rates here and to your waste collection rates here. Note that only rates that have changed are mentioned in the public notices, the other rates remain the same as 2011.
After reviewing the waste and water budgets there are a few items that I and others have found concerning, which we will attempt to have changed at the City Council meeting on November 29. Both proposed budgets result in cuts to services, higher costs to tax payers and more discounts for industry. The recent privatization of waste collection west of Yonge appears to have resulted in cuts to recycling collection, the elimination of Community Environment Days, and new charges to libraries, places of worship, charitable organizations and organizations which provide community support services. These service cuts will make it difficult for Torontonians to recycle and dispose of hazardous waste. The proposed water budget makes people pay more so industry can pay less. More companies will now receive a 30% break on their water bills, even those who break our by-laws, while residents will see a 9% increase in their water rates.
The Proposed Elimination of Community Environment Days
Currently we hold 44 Environment Days across the city and they are attended by upwards of 56,000 people who divert well over 1,000 metric tonnes of waste from landfill. In Ward 19, despite our 2011 Community Environment Day being held on the same day as the state funeral for Jack, our event was attended by over 500 people and we were able to divert over 16,200 kg of waste from our landfills. That’s not to mention the number of people dropping off Household Hazardous Waste and picking up compost and green bins. Environment Days allow us all to drop off our electronic waste, toxic chemicals, and reusable materials while providing us with a convenient and local pick up location for compost and green bins.
Despite their success, the budget before us proposes reducing the number of Environment Days from 44 to 11. This will make it more difficult for residents to attend, especially for those without vehicles, and will result in less waste diverted, less household hazardous waste disposed of properly, and less green bins replaced. If we do not dispose of our waste properly now, we will only be paying more to clean it up later.
The Elimination of the Collection of Overflow Recycling
This budget proposes eliminating our ability to place overflow recycling beside bins during scheduled pick up days. This is a major service cut and residents will be expected to store their recyclables for two weeks or simply throw them in the garbage. This will result in more garbage and less recycling. This cut is being proposed because our private waste collectors charge more for collecting overflow and this means that the recent privatization of waste collection west of Yonge is already reducing the quality of service provided to Torontonians.
Charitable Organizations, Religious Institutions and Non-Profits will be Charged More
The Solid Waste budget proposes two significant changes for non-commercial organizations. First, they will be expected to pay tipping fees at transfer stations. Second, they will be charged for commercial pick up of waste beginning in 2012, which provides them with little notice of something that will significantly impact their 2012 budgets.
The tipping fees represent a new tax on charities and organizations will suffer as a result of this fee. Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity will likely be charged thousands of dollars more per year to drop off, for example, furniture (which residents likely dropped off at their organizations) or scraps from building homes for those in need.
The budget also recommends that “the existing Commercial Collection Program be expanded to included previously excluded properties, such as but not limited to hospitals, libraries, places of worship, properties which provide community support services, profit and non-profit nursing/retirement homes and charitable organizations.” No consultation was provided to the organizations affected and many organizations are still unaware of the proposed new fees. Fees may play an important role in diverting waste but these organizations should have been consulted and need to be provided with more time to adjust to the serious impact this will have on their budgets. They provide important services to vulnerable populations in our city and play important roles in our communities. We need to protect their ability to do this work, especially when we’re in an economic climate where much of their funding is being cut.
Making it Cheaper for Industry to Waste our Water
This budget also proposes making it cheaper for Industry to waste our water, while the rest of Toronto pays 9% more and works hard to conserve. The budget seeks to change requirements for companies to access a 30% subsidized industrial water rate. Currently, in order for industrial users to pay what is called a block 2 rate, a rate that is 30% less than what residential users (such as you or I) pay, they need to meet certain requirements: (1) they must be in compliance with the City’s Sewers By-Law; (2) they must submit water conservation plans; and (3) they must monitor their own usage. The budget recommends scrapping those conditions so that we would reward companies with a 30% discount on our water, even those that are breaking our sewers by-law, not monitoring their water usage, and not submitting water conservation plans.
This recommendation actually results in less money for the City and additional costs in monitoring, enforcement, and maintaining our assets such as our sewer infrastructure.
