Duane Hicks
As of Monday, June 3, every garbage receptacle could require a bag tag.
While the matter won’t be formally decided until the next council meeting April 22, right now it looks like the cost of the tags will be reduced to $1.25 per bag from the current price of $2.25.
However, they also will be required on each and every bag of garbage residents put to the curb for pick-up each week.
The net increase in revenue for the rest of 2013 is projected to be $91,423.36.
After a lengthy discussion, the majority of council voted in favour of bag tags over instituting an environmental fee of $1 per week applied to everyone’s bi-monthly water bills.
This mandatory fee would enable residents to put out one “free” garbage receptacle each week, with any additional ones requiring a bag tag.
Mayor Roy Avis, who supported the environmental fee, said council has to do something to move toward the waste management system being a stand-alone utility.
As it stands now, the 2013 operating budget for the entire waste management system uses $110,600 of tax revenue.
Additionally, in 2017, the town will have to begin the process of expanding the six-hectare footprint at the local landfill site and must start socking away money for that now.
Coun. Paul Ryan agreed about instituting an environmental fee, noting that people are so used to being able to put out one bag and not having to put a bag tag on it, every time they do it now, they’ll become angry about doing so.
Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft said he always has been in favour of allowing for one “free” receptacle, but the town must make its waste management system self-sustaining.
He felt that instead of increasing taxes to support waste management, bag tags were more fair because people can’t escape taxes but they can reduce garbage to some extent.
“And it increases our recycling and takes away from garbage going to the landfill site, which will increase the life of our landfill,” Coun. Wiedenhoeft reasoned.
“I think there’s a lot of upside to it.
“And with the $91,000 in revenue, and I think it will be more than that, personally, because we’re going to get more money hopefully from Waste Diversion Ontario for our recycling . . . we can directly take that off our $372,000 that we’re in the hole right now and reduce the overall
taxation to the community,” added Coun. Wiedenhoeft, referring to the current budget deficit of $372,000 as of yesterday’s meeting.
Coun. John Albanese said he felt like council was punishing people such as himself and thousands of other residents who put out only one bag of garbage each week and recycle diligently.
“I don’t believe in it,” he remarked, noting the town has to clamp down on some residents who have been putting out extra bags of garbage each week without putting bag tags on them and they still get picked up.
“We have to have some control, maybe send somebody to do some policing,” he stressed.
“Don’t punish me and the people like me—punish the guilty ones.”
Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown noted this was a good point, as it is hard to manage when the town gives one “free” bag.
“If everything’s tagged, that’s what gets picked up,” he said. “If anything’s not tagged, we’re not picking it up.
“It’s a lot simpler.”
Noting Kenora and Dryden have been using bag tags since 1996, Brown also said having bag tags on everything will encourage more recycling and less garbage going to the landfill.
As a side note, he’s currently putting together an application to get compacting bins for the recycle depot on Sixth Street, which will save having to get Public Works staff to empty the bins there.
Coun. Ken Perry supported having an environmental fee. This would see everyone paying $1 week (or $8 per bi-monthly water bill) to have one receptacle picked up for “free,” and then they would have to buy bag tags at $2.25 each for every additional container.
He said everybody he’s spoken to does not want to use bag tags because they are a hassle. An environmental fee prevents this inconvenience.
“You’re going to pay for it anyways; no matter how you cut it, you’re going to pay for it,” Coun. Perry stressed, noting that right now, Fort Frances is not in the minority but in the majority of places that allow for at least one “free” bag.
Thunder Bay, for instance, allows residents to put out four bags for pick-up while Sault Ste. Marie allows for three.
But Brown countered an environmental fee would unfairly penalize some taxpayers, such as multi-residential owners, some of whom do not even use waste management services the town provides.
In the end, the majority of council opted for all garbage receptacles to have a bag tag on them to be picked up, starting June 3.
New bag tags of a different colour, possibly green, will be sold for $1.25 each.
One detail that still has to be worked out is what to do with the current orange $2.25 bag tags.
Brown advised the public to hold off on buying too many of those from now until June 3.
Due to the difficulty in giving people refunds, several members of council suggested those who still have the orange bag tags after June 3 can still use them, but they would be good for two garbage receptacles rather than just one.
Bag tags were first introduced here in 2004.
