Article from Volume 8, Issue Number 4, 2021
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Advocacy: Multi Family Waste Diversion (MFWD) Fees - Fall 2021
By CCI MB Advocacy Committee | Other articles by CCI MB Advocacy Committee | Feature
There was an article published in the Winnipeg Free Press about waste diversion fees being applied to condo unit owners for corporations with more than seven units.1 The proposed annual fee would start in January of 2023 at $44 per unit to help cover recycling costs. As this late breaking news came just as we were going to print for our fall newsletter the implications and rationale are not clear. Already there are letters to the editor and we encourage you to contact your City Councillor about this matter.2
A follow up article in the Winnipeg Free Press suggests that the fees would make for a more equitable situation in relation to service fees for condo owners versus single-family homes.3
“Winnipeg water and waste director Moira Geer said the fee aims to make waste collection charges equitable among all who use the service. Currently, those living in single-family homes, as well as those living in buildings with seven units or less, pay a waste diversion fee of $66 per year. Those in buildings with eight units or more aren’t charged, Geer noted."
If you want to find more details on this topic, it was discussed in the City of Winnipeg’s WWRME 2021 10 08 meeting, a recording of which is available on the City’s YouTube channel (starting at the 6 minute mark).4
As to whether it is indeed equitable, we’d like your opinions. A quick sanity check from a few of us CCI Directors found the following
- A townhouse condo property with 21 units and 7 blue wheelie bins would be charged 21x$44÷7=$132 per blue bin versus $66 for a bin at a single family home
- A apartment condo property with 148 units and 20 blue wheelie bins would be charged 148x$44÷20=$325 per blue bin versus $66 for a bin at a single family home
Does this seem equitable to you?
CCI Manitoba will continue to monitor the proposal as it works its way through the process at City Hall. This should all remind us of what happened in the fall of 2019 and the winter of 2020 — no, not the start of the pandemic, but a proposal made to the City Council about cutting garbage pickup services to condos.5 With the help of you, our valued members, we can collectively advocate on behalf of the condominium community to ensure fairness and equitable treatment.
CCI Advocacy Committee
1 "City report calls for fee to dump waste collection deficits" Joyanne Pursaga Winnipeg Free Press Tue Oct 5th 2021
2 Letters to the Editor Winnipeg Free Press Wed Oct 6th 2021
3 "Multi-unit waste fee proposal pushed to budget 2021 process" Joyanne Pursaga Winnipeg Free Press Sat Oct 9th
4 City of Winnipeg Water, Waste, Riverbank Management & Environment Committee meeting 2021-10-08 https://clkapps.winnipeg.ca/dmis/DocSearch.asp?CommitteeType=WW&DocumentType=M
5 "Update - CCI advocacy against City of Winnipeg cuts to condo garbage service" CCI News and Views - Winter 2020 https://cci-manitoba.ca/sites/default/uploads/files/newsletter/CCI-MB-Newsletter-2020-Winter.pdf
From Issue
Vol. 8, Issue 4, October 2021
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