Essex County Council has deferred the adoption of user fees associated with the green bin program, with one local mayor proposing the county use reserve funds to offset the costs.
During Wednesday's meeting, with one report looking for final approval of the 2026 Fees and Charges By-law.
Lakeshore mayor Tracey Bailey asked for the report to be postponed, and issued a notice of motion asking to use the county reserves to fully, or partially offset the cost of the program over the next several years. Both the deferral and motion were approved by council.
The motion asks that reserves cover 100 per cent of the program costs in 2026 for the Phase 1 municipalities, shift to a 50 per cent offset for Phase 1 municipalities, and a 100 per cent offset for Phase 2 municipalities in 2027, a 50 per cent offset for Phase 2 municipalities in 2028, and move to full funding of the program through the municipal tax levy in 2029.
The program launched in Oct. 2025 in Essex, Lakeshore, LaSalle, and Tecumseh. Those residents will receive their tax bill for the program this June. Phase 2 will include Amherstburg, Kingsville, and Leamington this fall, with their bill being presented in June 2027.
Council received a report in December on the estimated costs for the program, which is approximately $185 per household, causing public outcry over the cost.
Bailey says the fee came quickly to residents.
"At a time that residents are having a very hard time making ends meet as it is, we know that our community is in a tough spot right now, and so we need to look for everything that we can do to support our residents through it. And the cost of the user fee program needs to be subsidized leading into it, and creating a phased in approach for our residents."
She says the county has access to rate stabilization reserves.
"The intent of those kinds of reserves are for unexpected things that happen that the community wasn't planning on. And certainly this is one of those examples where it is an unexpected fee that we are learning about relatively late in the game, so it's not like we're able to negotiate these things prior to budget in terms of cost, we're just learning these user fees now."
Bailey says she's mindful that the decision to have a green bin program has already been made.
"But the decision around how we charge for the program is one that is still before us, and so I took the opportunity to being able to introduce a notice of motion that allows us to direct the reserves to take the pressure off residents."
The motion and the user fees report will be debated by council at the meeting on March 4.
During the February 4 meeting, County administration stated there is no money set aside in reserves to offset the cost to residents.
According to the County Council report, the cost per household is broken down by the number of eligible homes per municipality and the projected costs to be recovered. The green bin user fee per household is approximately $185.