East Gwillimbury fixed water rates rising $108 this year

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 11, 2016
By Simon Martin

What sound you hear when you turn on the tap might as well be the clang of money trickling down the drain.

Water rates have spiked in recent years and that’s not going to end anytime soon for residents in East Gwillimbury.

Staff unveiled a proposed 2016 water and wastewater budget at council Tuesday and it looks as if the rates are going to continue to rise. The fixed rates for water and wastewater are going up $108.

The variable rate is also set to rise to $4.25 per cubic metre, up from $4.13. Staff said, on average, the proposed increase would cost East Gwillimbury homeowners around $100 more a year.

It’s hardly a surprise that water and wastewater rates are on the rise.

The region decided last fall to hike water rates $93 in 2016, $101 in 2017, $110 in 2018, $120 in 2019, $131 in 2020 and $45 in 2021. East Gwillimbury gets its water from the region.

The region argued the increases were needed to cover operating costs, meet expenses, including payments to Toronto and Peel and Durham regions for water and wastewater services, maintain $5.3 billion worth of infrastructure now and in the future and build up its infrastructure reserves.

The region can’t turn back the clock and correct past wrongs, treasurer Bill Hughes said last October. “We can’t fix history. In the past, it is quite clear that people were paying water rates that were too low and we weren’t setting aside the amount that we need for good asset management,” he said.

So, if you thought your water bill was going down anytime soon, don’t hold your breath. While the average East Gwillimbury home will pay just under $1,200 in 2016 that will rise to just over $1,600 in 2021.

East Gwillimbury has been wrestling the past few years to bring its fixed rate more in line with the provincial norm. The majority of the town’s costs are fixed and related to delivering water to residents, while the revenue is variable and fluctuates with usage.

Town operation includes testing water, delivery of safe drinking water to property owners and delivery of wastewater to the region.

According to staff, currently 72 per cent of revenues come from the variable rate while 28 per cent come from the fixed rate. Staff wants that ratio to get closer to 50/50.

An added area of concern staff outlined for council was the upcoming replacement of the water main on Yonge Street between Mount Albert Road and Thompson Drive in Holland Landing after it recently broke twice. Staff predicted the infrastructure would last 80 years but it only lasted about 40. While the cost of the repair is just a touch more than $500,000, if the same issue happens in other places around the municipality, the situation good get a little hairy. According to staff, there are 9,000 metres of similar infrastructure around the town that would cost $7 million to replace if its use expired early as did the water main on Yonge.

Town staff plans to examine the quality of that remaining infrastructure this year.