The backlash on social media was instantaneous Monday night as city council approved a motion to raised the price that we pay for garbage collection.

The rate was expected to be $7.25 per month for 2018, but that was based on front curb/bi-weekly collection. Since council decided to trash that program following pushback in the community, there will be no significant cost savings in the budget according to administration. Over the course of the last year, the administration had warned that the savings from front curb pick up were based on a total rollout of the program in conjunction with bi-weekly collection.

So, the new cost will be $9.77 per month to cover weekly pick up from June through September and then bi-weekly during the rest of the year, it also covers increased cost of meeting provincial landfill regulations, handling old bins, enforcement of pulling bins back into a property from the alley and increased salaries through a new contract.