City residents to pay more for several services in 2025
By Lethbridge Herald on October 12, 2024.
Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge residents will be paying higher rates for several services in 2025 if city council approves four bylaws this fall.
The Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee of city council on Thursday recommended in an omnibus bill that council give first reading to four bylaws at its Oct. 22 meeting and consider second and third readings at the Nov. 26 meeting.
The SPC consists of mayor and all council members.
The increases are not new – they were all approved in the 2023-26 operating budget but the matters had to be brought up as due process. They were addressed at the SPC so members of the public could have a chance to address any of them but nobody in the audience spoke.
The first bylaw the SPC addressed was Bylaw 6455, an amendment to Bylaw 6146, the Waste Bylaw which a report by General Manager of Waste and Environment Mandi Parker states “regulates the storage, collection, processing, and disposal of waste within the City, and provides for rates and fees for certain services provided by the City.”
The report states that the garbage, waste program and waste reduction fee have been increased by two per cent for 2025 while the fee for the recycling and organics carts have been increased by one per cent.
The commercial collection fee has increased by four per cent.
An update to the tipping rates on recyclable shingles is because of the increased of processing, says Parker’s report.
Residents will also pay more for the electric distribution tariff in 2025. Bylaw 6466, an amendment to Bylaw 6364, the Electric Distribution Tariff, will also be addressed by council on Oct. 22.
This tariff sets the rates for all customers who receive electric services from the City of Lethbridge’s electric utility and covers the costs for the wire services required to connect those customers to electrical services. It doesn’t cover costs associated with the energy that is consumed.
The tariff has two main components to recover the costs of providing electric utility infrastructure for customers – transmission access fees and distribution access fees.
TAFs are collected by the City’s electric utility and flow through to the Alberta Electric System Operator to cover costs of the province’s transmission system.
These fees will increase by 1.5 per cent across all rate classes in the electric distribution tariff to meet forecasted costs from the AESO in 2025.
Distribution access fees are collected from customers to cover the costs related to the electrical distribution system infrastructure in the City. This system provides electrical connection to all Lethbridge customers from the transmission system to their point of use.
These fees will increase by two per cent across all rate classes to meet forecasted costs in 2025.
Bylaw 6457, an amendment to Bylaw 3250, the sewerage service charge bylaw, will increase wastewater utility revenues by three per cent in 2025 through changes to the wastewater rates contained within Bylaw 3250.
Rates will increase three per cent for all customers. These new rates come into effect Jan. 1.
And lastly, Bylaw 6456, an amendment to Bylaw 3999, the water services bylaw – 2025, calls for an increase of two per cent for all customers next year.
A report by General Manager of Wastewater Services Doug Kaupp says the City water utility is funded through utility rates which provide the revenue required to balance expenses detailed in the operating budget including costs associated with water treatment, pumping and storage, maintenance and life-cycle renewal of underground infrastructure and payments on debts that fund approved projects.
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What about the LPS budget, which is over $50 million? A Chief making $225,000 per year, the Deputy Chief $190,000 per year the Inspectors making $170,000 per year and we have some of the highest crime rates in Canada, with nothing being done downtown where crime spreads into the rest of Lethbridge like cancer?
Nothing said about that! We have some serious leadership issues and if this were a corporation, there would be some major changes in leadership, but not in Lethbridge, because no one is paying attention, except the businesses which are being bankrupted by criminal acts and property damages while the leadership says, ‘it is happening in other communities’ and just allows it to happen downtown. Wake up call to the rest of Lethbridge, it will come to you in your part of the city, as downtown continues to die, with more empty buildings from businesses dying or moving away to safer areas! Nothing being said about this though at city hall, another place with big leadership issues!
All this council worries about is keeping their personal voter base (church, social group , particular ethnic or political group that keeps electing them)pacified by dumping this problem into certain politically unconnected areas. I know the mayor and council try really hard to keep it out of their neighbourhoods The Blood tribe owns land by the reserve. Some members want a casino build. Why not a shelter closer to home for Indigenous and all who need it , out of town, away from drug dealers? Like ” Fresh start”. One problem with Fresh Start is you can stay for a year. If you relapse at 9 months ,your year starts over. Therefore you stop someone else from getting a needed space.
Some people just don’t get it til it presents itself in their neighborhood. Until then all the complainers are just meanies to those who live in exclusive neighbourhoods. How do you answer city survey questions when asked, where should the shelter, winter warming centers and or social housing for low income or homeless/ addicts go? Bet you never say your neighbourhood?
Lots of phony snobs here in Lethbridge?