How we pay for garbage service in Ottawa could soon change

UPDATE: Ottawa city councillors unanimously approved the funding plans for the new solid waste master plan and changes to the fee structure on June 25, 2024.

Ottawa's latest plans for extendingthe life of itsTrail Road Landfill includea shift to a flat fee for garbage services, which will also help replenish empty reserve funds.

The rainy day fund, which has consistently beenin the red for over a decade, currently sitsat a $25-million deficit. Thesituation spells trouble to deputy treasurer Isabelle Jasmin, withthe cost of building a new landfill by 2036 when it will fill up if the city does nothing pegged at $536 million.

The city has been gradually increasing fees to slowly builditsreserves, she told councillors at a technical briefing on Friday.

"Reserves are critical for financial sustainability, to smooth fluctuations in funding needs, to ensure predictability for ratepayersand to put money aside for future investments," she explained.

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Staff have spent the past five years working on a plan to extendthe life of the Trail Road Landfill by an additional14 years, creating some room to find a longer-term solution.

Councillors will get a chance to debate the plan this month. It includes not only the new three-item limit on curbside pickup and mandatory organics collection at condos and apartments, but also a raft of programs from further relying onprivate landfills to setting up "repair cafs" places where residents can get broken items fixed instead of tossing them in the trash.

Doing nothing isn't reallya viablealternative, argues Jasmin.

"The status-quo scenario would not only decimate the solid waste reserves, it would place it in a substantial deficit position that would take many years to recover from and impact the city's overall liquidity and possibly our credit rating," she said.

That's especially true given that the city is set to lose $17 million in revenue per year, once the province shifts the responsibility for recycling to producers.

What it means for homeowners

Staff hadalready told councillorsthere's no option but to raise fees, which are lower in Ottawa than most comparable cities.

This update gave more details on what Ottawans can expect to pay,and it's still nowhere close to what residentsof Edmonton, Toronto or Vancouver are charged.

Right now, the average homeowner is paying $56 in a waste diversion tax in 2024,on top of a citywide fee of $148,for a total annual charge of $201.

If councillors approve the latest plan, everyone will be charged the same $227 annual fee.

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"The idea is to pay the same amount for the same service," said Jasmin. "The way it's structured right now, it's not equitable. We're trying to get to something that's more fair."

It's a shift that gotKnoxdale-MerivaleCoun. Sean Devine thinking about what fairness looks like.

"The new system that was being discussed here today, every homeowner is going to pay the same rate no matter the value of their home," he said after the meeting. "It's being discussed as equitable, but quite likely some are going to benefit more. I'm curious about that."

Jasmin assured him that if homeowners have difficulty with the jump in fees, there could be a phase-in period.

What about an incinerator?

The latest financial plans don't include the cost of a $450-millionwaste-to-energyincinerator or a mechanical sorter to remove materials that can be recycled or composted.

But councillors were assuredthose options remain on the table.

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The city has hired a consultant to explorethe possibility offinancingand building an incinerator, a process that could take 15 years. That report should result in a council vote in mid-2025.

Alain Gonthier, general manager of public works, said the city is focusing on building the reserve sothat ifitmoves forward with a new landfill or an incinerator, the money will be there.

"Every year that we extend the life of the landfill ... there's a financial value to the city," he told reporters."The more that we can do that, we're able to push those big expenses that, yes, are inevitable.

"We've pushed those out as far as possible into the future."

The environment and climate change committee will consider the solid waste master plan and the accompanying long-range financial plan June 17.