By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Cost of automated garbage in Nanaimo to rise further

Feb 20, 2019 | 4:16 PM

NANAIMO — The price tag for providing automated garbage collection to all of Nanaimo continues to rise as new trucks are planned for purchase.

Nanaimo city councillors unanimously passed a motion to borrow more than $430,000 to pay for a new automated garbage truck. The motion was approved at the finance and audit committee meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 20 and final approval is expected when it appears at a council meeting.

The truck will be used on a new route which is planned to be added in 2020.

The added route, which wasn’t mentioned when the project was first discussed and implemented, was listed as a reason why user rates won’t decrease as promised.

The 2018 spike in user fees for sanitation and garbage collection were to drop down to $130 per household in 2019 and fall to $120 by 2024.

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However, a Nanaimo household will pay $170 for garbage collection in 2019 and there’s no indication about when they might drop.

Money borrowed for a new garbage truck will be repaid through user fees.

The cost of also purchasing a previously used automated garbage truck, the cost of which wasn’t provided to council during the finance and audit committee meeting, will also be funded through user fees.

The estimated cost of the trucks was previously factored in to the provisional 2019 budget, which comes with a 5.1 per cent property tax increase.

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