Bulk Collection Program Fee Could Be Reduced

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The City of Windsor could cut the cost of bulk pick up to $10 per item from the current $20.

The bulk collection program was approved by council last year and began on June 2nd, 2017 and ended on November 24th, 2017.

According to Anne-Marie Albidone Manager of Environmental Services as of November 16th, there have been 362 requests for the service resulting in 349 items collected.

In her report to council, Albidone says that the start of the program saw fewer calls than anticipated, and the collection was offered twice a month to all collection zones starting in August, as opposed to once a month collection. The change resulted in an increase of approximately 20 calls per week.

During the recent flood, the program was temporarily suspended for one month to redeploy those resources to flood clean up. When the program was re-instated, Albidone said that the city expected requests for bulk collection to decrease as many bulk items were collected during
the flood clean up. However, following the reinstatement of the program on October 6th, 2017, calls remained on average at 20 per week.

The city is now recommending that for 2018 the program continue, but the cost of pick up be reduced, based on the fact that costs to run the program have come in much lower than estimated.

At the time the program was developed, Albidone says that many assumptions were made, such as contractor costs, tipping fees and the expected use of the program. The city now says that all of the budget projections for the revenue and expenses associated with the program have proven to be higher than actuals and the overall net budget of $37,000 is showing a surplus of approximately $30,000 as of October 31st, 2017.

As a result, Administration has included a 2018 budget submission to adjust the bulk collection program budget to be more reflective of expected actual results.

They say that the loss in revenue created by the reduced user fee would be offset by a surplus in contracted service and tipping fee costs and that there is no budgetary impact to the reduced user fee overall.

City council debates the budget on January 15th and 16th, 2018.