A Courtenay councillor put up a fight on Wednesday (Jan. 25) against fee increases within the municipality.

At the meeting, staff presented plans that would charge citizens more for the services of water, sewer and garbage collection. Councillor Doug Hillian pushed back on several issues at council, asking tough questions to City of Courtenay staff.

When presented with a plan that would hike sewer fees by eight per cent, Hillian pushed for answers about the future.

鈥淚 want to put it on record,鈥� said Hillian, 鈥渨hether we鈥檙e expecting that this is going to be an ongoing increase. Or are we expecting it to level off at some point, or God forbid, go down?鈥�

Director of financial services Adam Langenmaier replied. He estimated that hikes would continue for the next two years, and then level off. The increases would also be smaller 鈥� not eight per cent like this year.

鈥淭he goal is to smooth out the increases into the future,鈥� said Langenmaier. 鈥淲e had a bit of a catchup (this year considering) where the budget was in 2023 versus where the 2024 budget came in. We really had to do a bit of a catchup to close that gap.鈥�

RELATED: Fee hikes planned in Courtenay

The increases are linked to the Sewer Conveyance Project. Langenmaier said hikes could rise if the conveyance project goes over budget.

Another pushback

Hillian spoke out again when the conversation shifted to garbage fees.

鈥淲e鈥檝e probably received more mail and public concern on the changes to our garbage collection in the last few months than any other issue in recent years,鈥� said Hillian. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 concerned about, is鈥� I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 going to be anything 鈥� compared to what we鈥檙e going to hear when people (learn) what their utility bill is going to be.鈥�

The garbage bill would rise by 50 per cent due to the new automated collection system.

鈥淚鈥檓 just wondering how we sell that to the community? How do we articulate the benefits? 鈥� Was there any possibility that these rates could have been phased in more gradually?

In response to questions about the sudden increase, City of Courtenay staff said that citizens would not face any further increases after the 50 per cent hike. The new contract would keep costs steady for 10 years.

Benefits

While acknowledging the cost increase, Coun. Melanie McCollum brought attention to what Courtenay is gaining.

鈥淲hen you add a service in complexity, there鈥檚 a cost to it鈥� . This added cost represents a significant reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions that come from disposing of our waste.

鈥淭hose who are able to participate in it are no longer fueling methane gas going into our landfills鈥� It is a significant increase, but $360 a year for a family to have all their waste taken care of, picked up, sorted, and disposed of in an environmentally responsible way鈥� I鈥檓 hoping that people see the value in that.鈥�

Hillian said he didn鈥檛 disagree, but times may call for different priorities.

鈥淲e are living in a time when affordability is the number-one concern of virtually every family out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope that as we move forward with these rates, that we have some type of messaging to the community. That explains in clear terms what people are getting for what they鈥檙e paying.鈥�

Council voted unanimously to support the bylaws that would increase the household cost for sewer, water and garbage services. The three plans need to appear before council again before they are final.

The vote will come at a future council meeting.

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