Critics question the growing costs of Metro Vancouver garbage fees | Daily Hive

Critics question the ballooning costs of Metro Vancouver garbage disposal fees

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A prominent business organization is flagging a substantial fee increase that the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) is proposing.

The Business Council of British Columbia (BCBC) is concerned that MVRD’s draft solid waste management plan includes the proposal to increase garbage disposal fees by five per cent a year, which would amount to a 63 per cent increase over 10 years, due to compounding over time.

Originally, the MVRD Board was supposed to vote on their budget — which included the waste management plan — today. If approved, it would have been sent to the B.C. Ministry of Environment for final consideration.

But the MVRD Board ultimately voted to defer voting on its next budget and financial plan to the next Board.

Due to the recent municipal elections, there will soon be a new MVRD Board, with directors appointed by the new formation of councils. The first meeting with the new Board will be on November 27. Some mayor-elects, like Surrey Mayor-elect Doug McCallum, had raised concerns that new councils wouldn’t have input on the next budget.

While BCBC had requested that MVRD do exactly this — they published a statement on Oct. 28 asking MVRD to postpone the vote to advance the solid waste management plan for final approval to the province — they have also asked multiple times for an independent review.

Denise Mullen, BCBC’s director of environment, sustainability and Indigenous relations, said that BCBC is also concerned about “lack of oversight.”

“Metro Vancouver is [a] policymaker, planner, regulator, operator, and price setter, and who’s watching? And who’s challenging what goes into the costs for the solid waste management plan?” she told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview.

“This just seems to be a reasonable request for an independent review, so that we know that what we’re paying for it is value for money.”

One of BCBC’s main issues with the garbage disposal increase is that it outpaces inflation.

“Historical inflation is roughly 2.8 per cent,” Mullen pointed out.

“So the real question is why, and we don’t know. And since the solid waste management plan is embedded in the financial plan, as we said now three times — our submission, the letter, and the statement — we feel the plan needs an independent review.”

Mullen said BCBC is concerned about the additional costs. She pointed out that people are already struggling with the cost of living, and increasing these fees means that people will have less money. Further, if businesses have to pay more, they pass those costs onto consumers.

BCBC is asking MVRD to open a 90-day comment period on their solid waste management plan, so that the incoming board will hear the public feedback.

“I think those are pretty reasonable requests for people who are responsible for spending our taxpayer dollars and the fees that we pay for municipal services to make sure that we are getting value for money because it’s a public service that we can’t do. Is it the right price for that service?”

However, Paul Henderson, the MVRD general manager of solid waste services, pointed out that the solid waste management plan is “the culmination of a five-year process which included extensive engagement with residents, Indigenous communities, local governments, industry, environmental organizations, and other stakeholders.”

“The draft Solid Waste Management Plan centers affordability, convenience, accountability, consistency, and transparency, to support waste reduction and recycling while creating opportunities for private sector competition and investment,” he said in an email to Daily Hive Urbanized.

He also defended the projected annual increases, saying they are needed for infrastructure investments and to manage growing contract costs.

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