Essex County Council finally put its stamp of approval on the 2017-2018 budgets for the Essex-Windsor Solid Waste Authority Wednesday night.
The authority's budget remained in limbo for nearly a year after administration had recommended a 4.11% increase but during budget deliberations city of Windsor representatives voted in favour of zero increase — county council ultimately shot that down.
A compromise has been reached as county representatives voted for a 0% increase for 2017 and a more modest 2% increase for 2018. County Warden Tom Bain tells AM800 News there is one key factor that dragged out budget talks.
"Well it did take a while and I think it was really based on the fact that we had a large reserve and we'd been using it, I would say, as a crutch to help keep it at zero each year," says Bain.
He says the more modest increase is the most sustainable option.
"When you look at reality we had to face the fact that reserve was dwindling and we may see a huge increase down the road," he says. "I think this strategy we brought forward was to look at a small increase each year as opposed to being it with a large one."
He says the 2% will be divided between municipalities based on the amount of garbage they put into the landfill.
The increase amounts to an additional $220,268 in 2018 — the waste management fee will remain at $34.44 per tonne.