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The mayor and a city councillor want to give Calgarians a break when it comes to the $6.50 per month fee that households are scheduled to pay for green cart service next year.

The city is scheduled to start delivering green carts to single-family homes on a quadrant by quadrant basis in the spring of 2017 as part of its residential compost food and waste program.

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The carts will be filled with food and yard waste and emptied weekly. Once they arrive, homeowners will be billed a $6.50 per month levy.

But, Coun. Joe Magliocca and Mayor Naheed Nenshi want that fee reduced to zero dollars for 2017.

The duo has put forward a notice of motion, scheduled to be debated by city council next week, that asks city administration to investigate funding sources that would temporarily eliminate the monthly fee until 2018.

“Every penny counts, especially for people who are on fixed incomes,” said Magliocca.

Magliocca said between the economic downturn and increasing costs “left, right and centre,” Calgarians need a break and the $6.50 fee could be paid for using money from the city’s rainy-day fund.