Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
Utility rates are set to rise by 15 per cent in Jasper next year.
Jasper Municipal Council had their first and second reading of the Utility Rate Bylaw for 2020 at their meeting on Tuesday.
Much of the increased tariff, about 43 per cent, is due to a $74,000 decrease in revenue from recycling.
Finance director Natasha Malenchak said last week that this decrease is due to a market drop in sales.
And that market drop is being felt across the country.
The backstory is, for decades Canada was sending the bulk of its recycling to China to be made into goods like shoes and bags and new plastic products.
But in 2018 the country restricted imports of certain recyclables, including mixed paper - magazines, office paper, junk mail - and most plastics.
That meant the Canadian market was flooded with product and the dwindling number of buyers left demand only the highest-quality material - and at a fraction of the cost.
And now that is being felt in Jasper.
With the 15.28 per cent increase, the estimated average utility bill for residential users in a single dwelling is $199.62 for 2020. It was $168.19 in 2018 and $179.82 in 2019.
The utility rate funds the operating and capital costs for water, waste water, stormwater, and solid waste, and recycle programs in Jasper.
The money supports the town’s ability to provide clean, safe drinking water to its residents, as well as protect the natural environment through waste water treatment, stormwater, solid waste and recycling management.
The third and final reading of the utility rates bylaw is scheduled for council’s first meeting back in the new year, January 7.
