Waste collection fees in Mountain View County will go up by between five and seven per cent on March 1 under the new Solid Waste Collection Bylaw passed by council last week.The new fee schedule reflects an increase by the county in its markup on the rates it is charged by the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission, from two per cent to 5.5 per cent, as well as the final rates approved by the commission in late December, director of corporate services Greg Wiens told council last week.ìOverall it represents a five to seven per cent increase in rates, given the increase in the commission's rate and our markup,î Wiens said.The higher markup is expected to generate about $25,000, which will roughly cover the county's administrative costs for billing.The 5.5 per cent markup was recommended by Div. 1 Coun. Kevin Good at the Dec. 14 policies and priorities committee meeting, with Good arguing that county ratepayers should not be subsidizing the service.ìI would like to see complete cost-recovery on this. There are some high users and some ultra-low users,î Good said at the meeting.About 700 customers currently use the service, Wiens said.ìThere is a benefit to all our ratepayers to have people use the system,î he said, noting that as a result of the service garbage doesn't get dumped in ditches or on other public or private lands. ìIn the end you want to offer a service that people will use.îìI do not believe the price of this will impact what ends up in our ditches,î Good replied.Last week, Wiens said the fee hike ñ the first since August 2010 ñ impacts four-week customers slightly more than 12-week customers.Under the new fee schedule, monthly rates for customers on a four-week cycle will rise from $69 to $73.65 for bin rental and collection, and from $65.70 to $70.25 for additional bin rental and collection.Eight-week-cycle customers will see their monthly rates go up from $48 to $50.80 for bin rental and collection, and from $39.75 to $42.25 for additional bin rental and collection.On a 12-week cycle, monthly rates will rise from $39.20 to $41.30 for bin rental and collection, and $31.10 to $32.90 for additional bin rental and collection.For Mountain View and Rosebud Estates only, the monthly fee for cart rental and collection every two weeks will rise from $11.35 to $12.The fee for additional collections will rise from $56.10 each to $65.40 and the cost for additional collections for additional bins will go from $47.95 each to $51.70.Customers will be notified of the changed fee schedule prior to it coming into effect on March 1.
