City Council has directed administration to implement a transition plan for waste management which will move from a flat rate fee financing model to a new fee for service model. With these changes, there will be a monthly charge for the black cart of $6.75, green cart at $9 and a charge of $8.50 for the blue cart. However, $20 million that is currently garnished from property taxes to pay for waste management will no longer be needed. I will be working to ensure that every dollar will be returned to taxpayers. This transition plan also facilitates further discussion regarding variable cart sizes as many residents do not produce a full cart of waste. I have for many years been advocating for residents to only be charged by the amount of waste produced, not the current standard flat rate.
Furthermore, Council directed administration to implement every-other-week green cart collection over the winter months starting in November 2018. Adjusting the green cart collection frequency will realize cost savings in areas such as labour and fuel of approximately $2 million annually. I will be advocating for these savings to be returned to taxpayers through lower taxes and fees.
City Council voted unanimously to maintain the seven-minute fire response time standard while requiring that new suburban communities include a plan to incrementally achieve the city’s standard as they are built out. We are fortunate in Ward 2 to have response times throughout most of our communities that are well below the 7-minute target. We are also fortunate to have two new fire halls recently built in our Ward in Sage Hill and in Royal Vista.
Join me once again for our annual Ward 2 Stampede BBQ on Saturday, July 14th from 11am-2pm at Loblaws City Market in Sage Hill.
