Crunching numbers has begun at city hall.

The finance committee met Tuesday for the first of three tentative meetings dedicated to the deliberation of the 2019 budget.

At its first meeting, the committee – which constitutes all council members – voted to approve a water/wastewater fee increase of 7.4 per cent.

The increase, which has held steady for a few years, is part of a 10-year master plan (2010-20) that includes an annual increase of 7.4 per cent to fund the maintenance of the city’s water and wastewater systems.

As Tony Cecutti, the city’s general manager of infrastructure services, pointed out, Sudbury’s comparatively high water/wastewater rates are rooted in its size. Because the city is so expansive, it still relies on more than 60 lift stations and forcemains.

“We have a number of facilities spread throughout a lot of different geographies, so we use a lot of lift stations,” he told councillors. Some of the city’s infrastructure predates amalgamation. “We have many wastewater facilities – one in each community. That’s a lot of what’s driving up the cost.”

Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann noted that in Sudbury the increase has been held to a steady 7.4 per cent for a few years, while in other jurisdictions, increases vary wildly from year to year.

“We’re able to plan better; it’s not a surprise,” she said.

But Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti expressed concern with the continual increase. While the city needs to maintain its infrastructure, he said at some point, “it’s going to be too high” for some homeowners.

“They won’t be able to support that; there’s only so many dollars to go around,” he said.

He wanted to know how many watermain breaks have occurred since the 7.4 per cent increase was introduced. Cecutti said on a 10-year average, the city experiences about 100 breaks annually.

“The last two years we’ve had substantially less than that, but I would say that because of favourable weather conditions I’m not sure they’re entirely representative of the average,” Cecutti said. “This year in November and December we were above the previous two years, but January and February are trending back towards the average.”

Financial requirements remain significant, as there is lots of aging infrastructure within the city, Cecutti said.

“We’ve been making headway, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” he added.

The finance committee also discussed a number of changes that could be brought forward, which would reduce water and wastewater rates in the coming years.

Mayor Brian Bigger noted that even a modest of increase of $100 per year could be burdensome to some households.

“Is there a way of taking some pressure off the increases that water system users experience by having a lower percentage increase in the fixed rate, while still maintaining the overall increase in the rates?” he wanted to know. “That would put a little bit more of the increase towards the actual volume of usage, as opposed to a fixed rate.”

He wanted to know the impact of using 3.5 per cent of 7.4 per cent on the fixed charge portion of the increase, leaving 3.9 per cent for usage.

Cecutti said it would not affect the city’s revenue, but it could impact users.

“What it would mean for an individual consumer is they have more control over the amount of their bill, because there’s a higher variable portion,” he said. “There are certainly some advantages from a sustainability point of view to having a greater variable rate because it encourages more conservation. From a longer picture point of view, you could have less demand on your drinking water, less wastewater going into the wastewater system, so your assets could last a little longer with less demand on the system.”

The downside, Cecutti said, is that the city runs the risk of not earning enough from the user fee to cover costs.

Signoretti voted against the water/wastewater hike, but he stood alone and the resolution was passed.

mkkeown@postmedia.com

Twitter: @marykkeown

705 674 5271 ext. 505235

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