County Council approved a 4.1% budget increase for the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority Wednesday night.
That bump will help shore up a fixed cost increase from $4.2-million to $4.4-million in 2019. Manager of Finance Michelle Bishop says the 4.1% increase adds up to around $213,000 to municipalities in the county and close to $250,000 for the city of Windsor.
She says the hike is necessary to balance the authority's books by 2027, something that wouldn't happen after a 2% increase last year and no increase back in 2017.
"There are no staffing enhancements; it's a status quo budget. We're maintaining service, no service cuts, but no service enhancements," says Bishop who adds it works out to about $1 more per ton. "Depending on the amount of tons received, a municipality that brings 7,000 or 8,000 tons — it's not a significant amount of money."
Increased fuel costs are one factor for a higher operating budget , but the largest expense is always making sure there's land to fill.
She says there's a lot more involved than just digging a hole and dumping in trash.
"Regional landfill debenture payments as well as cell development costs, so as the regional landfill expands we have to put the infrastructure in to develop those cells," added Bishop.
The budget will go to the city for approval later this month.