Let me begin with an unvarnished truth. Our water and waste-water rates seem high because they are high. While EG taxes may be the lowest in York Region, our water rates are among the highest.
On March 19th, East Gwillimbury council voted on the 2019/2020 Water Budget. The budget will increase by 2.5% over the previous year. This is in spite of York Region increasing our water cost by 9%. The Region is our sole supplier of water, and the charges are the same regardless of municipality. We were able to absorb as much as we could into our existing budget to offset the 9% increase from our supplier.
I have learned that our bills are structured to be fair to all water users. First, it is important to understand that there are two components to our water bill, 1) cost of consumption – what you use, and 2) cost of delivery – the pipes in the ground and associated infrastructure.
The individual resident has absolute control over how much water they use. If you take long showers, or frequently water your lawn, or even top up your pool – you can expect to pay more. If you choose to adopt water conservation measures like installing low flow toilets and low flow shower heads, you will pay less.
The second component of the water bill – delivery – is more tricky. There are costs associated with ensuring that clean, safe water is delivered to your property, whether you choose to turn the tap on or not. As I mentioned above, it has often been said that East Gwillimbury has among the highest costs in York Region. This may be true. However it is important to note that when comparing EG to other municipalities like Aurora, Newmarket, or Markham we are not similar. EG is still a rural town with growing urban developments. The reality is that because of our size and distribution of housing, we have greater distances for our water to travel. EG has a population that is scattered over a greater geographic area and therefore must lay more kilometers of pipe. You could actually fit the towns of Aurora and Newmarket into the borders of EG and still have space left over. We have over 245 kms of pipe that we must maintain.
It should also be noted that our infrastructure requires constant maintenance which adds to the cost. Our water system must be operated through the regulation of the Ontario Clean Water Act, which requires thousands of tests each year. Town staff conducts over 6000 regulated water samples every year. The events of Walkerton brought forward legislation that increased the standards for how municipalities handle their water supply and distribution. In fact, as a councillor, I can be held criminally responsible if I were to let our water system fall into a state of disrepair or neglect. When was the last time we had a water main break? I can’t think of such an event in recent memory. We have pristine water pipes in our town.
Some other municipal councils have not taken the same approach with regards to timely maintenance or saving for the future Their budgeting choice is also why some councils will periodically have to drastically increase the charges on their water bills. I happen to believe that a steady rate with modest increases is far less jarring to your pocket book than periodic spikes in pricing. Some York Region municipalities this year will take a 5% increase and I have heard about another who will be taking an increase in the double digits. My business experience has taught me the necessity of charging the right rate for the right cost. In time other municipalities will be forced to raise their rates to get closer to EG’s.
I have heard from many residents who are upset at the high cost of their water bills.
As a first-time Councillor, I struggled with the rate increase. I know residents are not happy with what they are paying. I heard two concerns about water when campaigning: issues about aesthetics and the cost. Steps are being taken to address the discolouration issues and I am content that is moving in the right direction. The price was the other issue I dug into to try and understand better. I also tried to investigate alternatives. If I was to vote against the water budget – what would I put forward as a solution? The unfortunate part is that our cost is very pure. We are not allowed to borrow money from property taxes or development charges to offset increases. The only option would be is to push the cost of maintaining or replacing parts of the system onto subsequent budgets. Regrettably, that practice would lead to billing spikes and even higher water bills in the years to come. All funds raised through water billing stays within the water budget. We can’t use this money to offset property tax or build new buildings. Your water bill pays for water infrastructure and what you consume.
It would have been politically expedient for me to vote against the water rate increase – but I don’t feel that would have been justified as I couldn’t provide an alternative solution. The reality is that our water rates will most likely continue to climb as time marches on. We were able to keep the rates as low as possible even in the face of the 9% cost increase from the Region. I, along with other councillors, called for greater measures to encourage and reward water conservation. As well, I have insisted on better communication to the public so that education and understanding around our water bill is improved.
To wrap up, the cause of our high water rates can be summed up for the following reasons:
1) Our system covering a large geographic region among non-continuous communities,
2) Our water and waste-water infrastructure undergoes regular maintenance to keep it running and ensure health and safety,
3) Our system of pricing includes setting aside reserves for emergency service and rate offsets (that was how we absorbed the 9% rate increase from the Region this year).
I know this is probably not the answer you wanted to hear but I won’t sugar coat it. Our system is expensive to operate. However, at the end of the day, the people in East Gwillimbury can turn on their taps and take comfort in knowing that their water is safe to drink.