Mount Albert resident's water bill a whopping $1,486 as water rates spike

YorkRegion.com
Sept. 7, 2016
Simon Martin

Everybody gets an unexpected bill every once in a while, but when Justine Cioci opened her latest water bill, she had to do a double take.

Her quarterly water bill from the Town of East Gwillimbury was a whopping $1,486.

“It’s outrageous. My water bill is a mortgage payment,” the Mount Albert resident said. “I was banking on it being between $500 and $700.”

She wasn’t the only who experienced a higher than usual bill.

A slew of people posted similar quarterly bills ranging from $500 to $900 on a popular Mount Albert Facebook group. 

Chantel Labarre said her quarterly bill has jumped more than $100 in six months. 

“I don’t believe it should be this high,” she said.

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

The town’s 2016 water and wastewater fixed rates rose $108 for the year.  The variable rose to  $4.25 per cubic metre, up from $4.13. Those rate hikes don’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

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.

According to the town, the problem isn't just isolated to East Gwillimbury. 

Town spokesperson Laura Hanna said due to the dry and humid weather this summer, we saw a townwide increase in water usage. When speaking with other local municipalities, they also found an increase in usage and therefore bills as well, she said.

Even with the rate hike, Cioci’s bill seems like an outlier.

According to the town, the average home in East Gwillimbury will pay just less than $1,200 in 2016. Cioci blew by that total in three months.

Cioci has checked for leaky faucets and is investigating the water softener at the house because she can’t believe the bill could be this high.

“We would be better off to pay $50,000 to dig a well,” she said. A lot of the water bills in Cioci’s neighbourhood in Mount Albert were high as residents watered new sod. But she said her neighbours’ bills were between $700 and $900 and they watered more than she did. “It’s a little crazy being double on the high end,” she said.

The ever increasing rates are frustrating for Cioci. "Everything except wages is going up," she said.

The fixed rate in East Gwillimbury went up $54 in 2015 and the average rate went up $74 in 2014.

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, 72 per cent of revenue comes from the variable rate, while 28 per cent comes from the fixed rate. Staff wants that ratio to get closer to 50/50.