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Saskatoon city council reversed a controversial decision to charge user fees for trash collection, creating the possibility of a 2020 property tax increase near five per cent.

Council voted 6-5 Monday night to rescind a decision from four weeks earlier to introduce the new fees, which would have paid for trash pickup for single-family homes.

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Council voted 6-5 in November to implement the fees, but Coun. Darren Hill signalled a few days later he wanted to rescind his vote.

Hill suggested Monday the need for a new landfill has been overestimated and that the variable cart sizes proposed for garbage do not reflect a “true ‘pay as you throw.’ ”

“We’ve been holding the fear of a new landfill and additional costs over the heads of residents for years,” Hill said.

Coun. Randy Donauer proposed that the decision to fund a new organic waste collection program for single-family homes through property tax also be rescinded.