City staff are predicting a $750,000 budget shortfall at the Waste Resource Innovation Centre for 2016.
The shortfall is part of a report heading to council that says the projected budget shortfall is due primarily to "unrealistic revenue projections."
Staff is recommending a number of previously reported changes to be made almost immediately to help make up the shortfall, including increased fees and the ending of free residential yard waste drop-off.
The recommendations are included in a report heading to the city's Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Committee on July 5 that was prepared by Cameron Walsh, Manager of Solid Waste Resources.
If eventually approved by City Council, the changes would take effect Aug. 1.
Staff is recommending:
- a new minimum fee of $5 for residential yard waste. Residents won't have to line up at the scales to do so.
- the rescinding of the free drop-off provision for the first 50 kilograms of residential and commercial yard waste.
- all commercial operations will pay $60 per tonne in addition to the minimum $5 fee.
- the minimum fee for mixed solid waste be increased from $3 to $5.
Staff also wants to use $225,000 from a pair of reserve funds to make immediate improvements to the facility to help make it quicker, safer and easier to use. Some of that money would be used for design work for a future expansion and reconfiguration of the weigh scales.
The report says that $180,000 of the projected year-end deficit is associated to yard waste.
"Increasing the minimum fee for mixed solid waste to $5 and adding a minimum residential yard waste fee of $5 will address and mitigate the current projected negative variance associated with yard waste in 2016," the report states.
The $60/tonne yard waste fee for commercial users with the first 50kg free was just implemented earlier this year, in part because weighing commercial yard waste drop off both on the way and out was creating long wait times and public delays.
But the waiving of fees and allowing vehicles to bypass the scales was resulting in significant lost revenue.
Staff plans on studying the issue and the configuration of the drop-off facility to see where improvements can be made and what the costs of those improvements might be.
