Niagara region gives taxpayers a break on garbage

The way trash is collected in Niagara is set to change in the new year, and regional council has voted to give taxpayers a zero-per-cent increase on the 2024 waste management budget — going against a recommendation from staff.   

The freeze is the result of regional councillors voting not to replenish capital and landfill liability reserves, which would have landed the region at an increase of about $870,000.  

The region’s budget committee has approved a gross garbage collection spending plan of $51.5 million, about $12 million less than what was budgeted last year.   

More than $45 million of the 2024 budget will be apportioned to Niagara’s 12 lower-tier municipalities.   

This equates to as little as $148 per household in Thorold, while Port Colborne property owners will be taxed $200 per year for waste management.   

Niagara-on-the-Lake residents are charged based on their fixed household amount. Town spokesperson Marah Minor said records indicate this practice goes back as far as 1981.

The NOTL process involves taking the total cost of waste management as charged by the region and dividing it by the overall number of dwellings receiving the service. This calculation yields a per-household cost to be assigned to each property tax account. 

Unlike some municipalities that base the charge on assessment values, where higher assessments result in higher fees for the same service, Niagara-
on-the-Lake opts for a more “equitable approach,” she said.  

The region’s recent report indicated the town would pay $2 million to the region for garbage, Minor said, divided by household.

In mid-July, the region’s public works committee chose to opt out of continuing to provide curbside collection of recycling from residences, facilities and public spaces when a new Producer Responsibility Blue Box Program is enacted on Jan. 1.  

This means the responsibility of residential recycling collection is set to be removed from the region and placed solely in the hands of Circular Materials Ontario, an organization responsible for setting up contracts to collect and receive recycling materials across the province, on behalf of producers.  

Despite there being savings and the upcoming changes playing a major role in that, regional finance director Helen Furtado said there are other costs that need to be addressed — which is why a 1.9-per-cent increase was initially recommended.   

“In spite of the fact we have a reduction due to the collection contract, we do have some pressures in the budget,” she said.   

The biggest of these pressures is an increase of more than $2 million to cover organics processing, drop-off depots, household hazardous waste, collection, landfill operations and grounds and security services, said Furtado.   

The motion to freeze the budget with no increase was made by Fort Erie Regional Coun. Tom Insinna, who said council should take the opportunity to give some relief to taxpayers by turning down an increase of nearly two per cent.   

Catherine Habermebl, the region’s director of waste management, said details about which local contractors will be responsible for blue box collection are being worked out.   

“I anticipate the transition to be smooth,” she said.