A proposal to shift the payment for garbage collection from property taxes to utilities bills has been put on hold by Creston Town Council.
At Tuesday’s regular meeting Council approved a suggestion to pick up the discussion in 2018 so that the details can be more thoroughly examined.
“I think that this is something that we don’t need to rush into, and I’ve discussed this with staff, who agree,” Mayor Ron Toyota told Council.
Finance director Steffan Klassen made the recommendation earlier this year. There is an inequity in funding through general municipality property taxes, he said in a report, in part because not all Creston properties get garbage pickup even though they are paying for it. Other properties, including some strata developments, are paying the tax but using a different disposal service.
“By creating a utility fee for solid waste removal, and applying that fee only to addresses that are eligible to receive the service, the inequity would largely be resolved,” said the report. “It should be noted that including the solid waste service on utility bills, rather than municipal tax bills, will also make property tax comparisons between Creston and majority of other municipalities more accurate as the majority of communities deal with the service as a separate utility bill.”
Among the issues that Council must decide before approving the change will be whether to not collect garbage collection fees when a property owner is away for an extended period, as many snowbirds are. Those residents often have their water shut-off, which saves money and reduces concern for damage from frozen pipes or leakage.
Multi-family residential buildings could have the option of using a private garbage collection service and being exempt from paying the utility fee, at Town Council’s direction, as would mobile home parks.
The intent in the proposed pricing structure is to be cost neutral for the Town, but residences with low property values would be negatively affected and those with higher assessments would see a positive affect.
Council will also have to determine how to treat homes with secondary suites. Staff recommends that one garbage bag tag a week be provided for the secondary suite resident—single residential homes are allowed two garbage containers a week and must purchase tags for additional numbers—and that policy would be consistent with the 50 per cent rate charged to secondary suites for water and sewer services.
In other Town Council news:
• Council agreed to receive for information a proposal to mark December 11th as “A Day For Our Common Future” to acknowledge the 30th anniversary of a landmark presentation on the global environment by Gro Harlem Brundtland.
• Paris Marshall Smith, the RDCK sustainability coordinator, will be invited to appear at a future meeting to provide information about a new regional Community Sustainable Living Advisory Committee.
• A $750 discretionary grant was approved to support the Creston Curling Club hosting the 2018 BC Masters curling championship.
• A request for $4,000 annual funding for the WildSafeBC – Purcells initiative was referred to the 2018 budget process. The funding would go toward public education efforts by local coordinator Trish Drinkle, who works with local citizens to reduce attractants that draw wildlife into residential areas.
• All members of Town Council in attendance (Couns. Karen Unruh was absent) committed to participating in the Santa Claus Parade, which will be held at 11 a.m. on December 2 this year.
• Council approved a commitment to consult with the public on what to do with the current fire hall building property if a new fire hall is constructed.