Garbage in Ottawa Stinks

Back in 2009, the City of Ottawa promised a more innovative garbage system a “green revolution” powered by user fees and compost bins. Sixteen years later, we’ve achieved exactly two things: higher bills and slightly less guilt when tossing out banana peels. Garbage is more expensive, bins are smaller, and there’s still no opt-out clause for people who, say, compost like champions. TL:DR

A preliminary report from the City of Ottawa garbage folks has floated the idea of removing the Garbage Collection portion of the City Taxes and turn it into a user fee. With this move, City Taxes will drop by $86, which sounds like a nice idea; however, the User Fee for Garbage is slated to be $195 per household, representing a 115% increase in the cost of paying for Garbage in Ottawa.

How is this possible? Let’s look a little closer:

• $86 is our original garbage fee, so we’ll keep that
• $41 fee for the black and blue box program in place (say that 5 times fast)
• $68 for the new Green Bin program for organics and compost and such

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Now that is an expensive program. If you are a rural Ottawa person you won't have to pay for the Green Bins, since you won't have them, but you'll still have your garbage fee go up by around 50%.

I suspect that garbage collection will become more like water and sewers and will become a bi-monthly billed program, which will then spiral in price to match the cost of garbage collection.

Do I have any other options available to me? No, I can't opt out, I can't claim I don't use the service, so I must pay, as must my neighbours.

TL:DR Ottawa Garbage 2009

• The original garbage collection charge was about $86 rolled into property taxes.
• The City “removed” that fee from taxes and slapped on a $195 user fee instead.
• Add $41 for blue/black box pickup and $68 for the Green Bin rollout that’s a 115% jump dressed up as environmental progress.

The “user fee” model gave bureaucrats carte blanche to raise rates every few years quietly. It’s the subscription service model of local government: once you’re in, you can’t cancel, and it only gets pricier.

FAQ About Garbage in the City of Ottawa