Timmins council has approved the 2019 water and wastewater rates.
The increase is $40, which includes a $10 hike for water and $30 for wastewater.
“Most importantly it’s a rate increase that we’ve charged administration to come back to us with a way to mitigate that increase to those that most need it of a certain fixed income, both seniors and others,” said Mayor George Pirie.
“I’ve said during the campaign that we have to think of ways of doing things differently. We have to realize that the capital asset management plan that had been developed back in 2014 is unsustainable in its current form and we have to work together to ensure that in fact it more reflects what the citizens of this town can afford.”
Last week, Director of Public Works Pat Seguin presented four rate adjustment options to council.
The combined hikes ranged from $380 next year to the $40 option. The charts also included projected rates for years to come.
The rate approved by council is ultimately lower than what was being suggested by staff, who recommended a $65 increase ($25 for water and $40 for sewer) next year in order to “provide the minimum support required for financial needs required to maintain water and sewer assets.”
Coun. Noella Rinaldo is nervous that the increase doesn’t meet the needs of the city’s asset management plan.
“One of the reasons we’re in this position is that nobody sat at this table and made those hard decisions years ago to say we have to start putting money aside for the future and for what we have in our assets,” she said.
This isn't the last time that council will talking about the city's water and wastewater systems.
Early next year, council will have to approve a six-year financial plan for the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
According to a staff report, the plan is required as part of the Safe Water Drinking Act and “must provide sustainability to the water system as well as follow the recommendation of our Asset Management Plan.”
Pirie said that is an opportunity do “deep dive” into the serious questions about the sustainability of the city’s infrastructure and how to mitigate future increases.
“And I think more importantly to really take a hard look at the reality of our situation with a three-year average, if you will, of what our actual experience has been so that we can say with confidence that we can manage this asset. What I would really like to see is our ability to create a cash reserve over time that would properly address the concerns we have in relation to our aging infrastructure,” he said after the meeting.
Before approving the new rates, the affordability of any hike was top of mind for council.
Coun. Kristin Murray said she doesn’t agree with the aggressive approach presented in some of the options to bring down the debt.
“I definitely agree that it should be brought down, but some of the options here are quite aggressive,” said Coun. Kristin Murray.
For people on a fixed income, Coun. Mickey Auger said they can’t afford it.
“All I know is that some of the people that can’t afford it, they come to the food bank because they got to pay their bills, their hydro and all of this kind of stuff. That is sad,” said Auger, who is the South Porcupine Food Bank chair.
