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Charity wants out of recycling utility

Banff’s YWCA is calling on town council to exempt charities or not-for-profits from having to pay fees for garbage and recycling collection. At its meeting Monday (Feb.

Banff’s YWCA is calling on town council to exempt charities or not-for-profits from having to pay fees for garbage and recycling collection.

At its meeting Monday (Feb. 14), council heard a pitch from the YWCA that they and others like the schools, churches, and hospital not have to pay the new waste and recycling utility.

They also asked that Town departments have their waste and diversion billed as a way of encouraging greater public accountability.

Kerry-Lee Schultheis, the YWCA’s executive director, said as charities do not pay taxes, separating out the waste utility fees will result in an increase to every charity’s budget.

“In reality, the waste service fee is a new tax that has significant impact on our organization’s operations, as did the water and sewer utility that came about in 1998,” she said.

“The fees we’ll be paying are quite onerous and don’t take into consideration the contributions charities make to the community,” she added.

“This is money that will be directly taking away from the programs we are able to do for the community. It’s not lining somebody’s pockets.”

Based on the current level of service for cardboard, food scraps and garbage collection, the YWCA will pay pay about $7,000 a year once the waste utility is fully phased in over four years.

However, council heard that amount will vary, depending on the level of service requested by the organization. They expect more garbage collection in the busier summer months.

As of Jan. 1, the Town of Banff went to a new way of charging for garbage and recycling collection services, known as the waste utility.

It means the cost of recycling and the cost of taking waste to the landfill now appear as a separate utility charge, rather than on property tax bills.

The waste utility aims to encourage residential and commercial waste reduction and diversion. It also aims to ensure costs for the services are more equally distributed.

Town officials say there is no automatic or statutory exemption for utility fees applied to charities or not-for-profit organizations.

Council made no decisions on Schultheis’ request, but did ask her to provide them with additional information, including the YWCA’s financials.

“Council will await information from Ms. Schultheis with respect to how other Ys are treated on being charged for utilities in their municipalities,” said Mayor Karen Sorensen. “That said, my understanding through administration is all other institutions in our community will be charged the waste and utility rate and they seem to understand that concept.”

Coun Chip Olver said the fees for the YWCA seemed to be lower than originally thought, but she did voice some concern.

“I think what I’m hearing is this waste utility, that’s money that immediately reduces your community programming,” she said.

Chad Townsend, Banff’s environmental coordinator, said most municipalities in Alberta are not even involved in commercial waste or recycling collection.

“In Canmore, for example, it’s up to the hospital and schools to negotiate with a private hauler,” he said.


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