The cost of bag tags in Owen Sound is going up.
City Council will approve a 50 cent per tag increase at its next Council meeting — and each bag tag will now cost two dollars and 50 cents.
The decision came after Tuesday’s first budget meeting.
Mayor Deb Haswell doesn’t like Council’s decision – but she admits they have to look at every opportunity to increase revenue in order to offset a big tax hike in 2012.
The increased bag tag will be effective next month.
Staff will also introduce a new bag tag sticker — so residents will not be able to purchase more of the current tags at two dollars each because they will soon be obsolete.
Haswell says the increase in bag tag fees will add another 40 thousand dollars in revenue.
Haswell says she would prefer to have increased the cost of bag tags while introducing a Green Bin program that diverts more waste.
But she says the cost of that program is too expensive for the City.
Haswell tells Bayshore Broadcasting News she will call on Grey County to take over waste management across the region.
Haswell also feels the provincial government should look at waste management instead of focusing so much time on wind farms and green energy.
Tuesday’s budget meeting was the first in a series of four public meetings.
Haswell says City Council also has a tough decision to make about the snow removal and whether to reduce that level of service.
There was some good news for Council.
Haswell says they may be able to save as much as 100 thousand dollars in the police budget — mainly due to the decision not to fill the Deputy Chief’s job.
Staff have also recommended upgrades to City Hall — but Haswell says staff should look for energy grants first before Council approves renovations.
In fact, the entire City staff wishlist translates into a four per cent tax increase — and Haswell says that is not going to happen.
She notes the City is also looking at over a million dollars in costs that are out of their control — from wages to benefits to utilities to a reduction in provincial funding.
