Next year may be the last for the annual landfill coupon program as Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors try to cut out non-essential costs in the wake of mounting deficits due to COVID-19.
The deficit for the regional solid waste service has climbed to $159,610 as of June 30 because of additional staffing costs associated with COVID-19 as well as the emergence of sinkholes at the landfill, and because of higher than expected processing costs for drywall and wood waste, according to a July 23 corporate and administrative services committee staff report.
To mitigate those costs, staff recommended a number of measures: discontinue the coupon program for the rural areas, cancel the 2020 Back Road Trash Bash, delay setting up a food waste drop-off location in Area A, and limit the Nelson Island cleanup to every other year.
To encourage physical distancing and reduce the demand on the landfill, this year’s coupon program was made valid from Sept. 9, 2020 to May 2021.
Cutting the coupon program is estimated to save $43,000 next year and up to $88,000 in 2022.
Directors decided to approve all staff recommendations at committee with one exception – the Nelson Island cleanup. Area A director Leonard Lee suggested they revisit that decision because they needed more information about the impact of the program.
Lee also asked that the food-waste drop-off in his area move ahead as scheduled instead of delaying the program until January 2021, as recommended by staff, since it could help divert waste from the landfill, which is reaching capacity.
“Our focus has got to be on keeping our dump going as long as we can,” said Lee before voting against the recommendation. Sechelt director Alton Toth and Roberts Creek director Andreas Tize also opposed the delay, but it still passed.
Directors had earmarked $27,000 for the program in the 2020 budget.
Curbside pickup of food waste is slated to begin this fall in rural areas, excluding Area A, where a drop-off location would have been provided instead.
Other services
Waste wasn’t the only service directors reviewed at the July 23 committee.
Chief financial officer Tina Perreault walked directors through the impact of COVID-19 on a range of services and what it could mean for next year’s budget.
So far, the majority of service functions remain in a “slight” surplus, according to the report, with the SCRD in an overall surplus of $1,127,205 to the end of June.
Some services are dealing with deficits, though, including the Sunshine Coast Emergency Planning service, which is facing a shortfall of $120,767. Funding from the province to cover staff overtime is expected to reduce it to approximately $65,767.
Transit, community recreation, wastewater treatment plant services and regional solid waste are also facing deficits.
Directors were also given projections for what taxes could look like next year.
Perreault, who had already told directors in April that taxes were estimated to increase by 6.03 per cent over 2020, said a further two to three per cent would be needed to cover shortfalls, bringing the new total to up to nine per cent – and that amount doesn’t factor in expected taxation to reopen rec facilities.
When asked about the baseline six per cent increase, Perreault said: “We have a high confidence in those numbers unless there’s a change in those decisions.”
Each $211,000 represents an overall one per cent increase in taxation.
During discussion, Sechelt director Darnelda Siegers acknowledged the budget is “like Jell-O. It’s just moving all over the place,” she said, given the number of variables involved. “We know what this looks like today, but we don’t know what it’s going to look like tomorrow.”
