Assess impact of water rate hike on affordability, need for supports: Winnipeg councillor

February 24, 2025 Canuck

A Winnipeg councillor wants to make sure the city takes into account the impact expected water and sewer rate increases will have on the availability of affordable housing.

Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) raised a motion at the city centre committee on Monday asking for city staff to report back on what those impacts could be, and possible support programs for low-income residents who may have difficulty paying the higher rates.

Rollins served as chair of the property and development committee until she resigned from the position shortly before council voted on this year’s budget. Among the reasons for her resignation, Rollins said the city administration had not been transparent about what the new rates would be.

“It is just a fact that rent increases in conjunction with rising utility costs,” Rollins said in an interview.

The city offers a subsidy program in partnership with the Salvation Army, called the H2O Help to Others Program. The program provided $10,078.71 worth of assistance to 37 accounts in 2023, and $9,857.92 to 36 accounts in 2024, departmental spokesperson Lisa Marquardson wrote in an email.

Earlier this month, water and waste director Tim Shanks said the department had increased the maximum credit available to an individual customer from $400 for a family of four to $550.

“In light of potential impending rate changes upcoming this year, were going to revise it again, obviously,” Shanks told the water and waste committee on Feb. 3.

Shanks said the department would also look at expanding the program to include support for other utilities, such as solid waste fees expected to be laid out in the same report.

Rollins says the amount of money given by the program shows a need to better promote it.

“The current program probably needs greater outreach, probably needs greater visibility, and hasn’t really been supporting very many residents, let alone with a utility rate hike,” she said.

The city faces significant costs for a number of major water and sewer projects, including upgrades to the North End Sewage Treatment Plant, currently pegged at $3 billion.

The city has yet to find a way to pay for the second phase of the plant upgrades, meant to remove biosolids from waste water — a project initially budgeted at nearly $553 million, but now projected to be closer to $912 million.

It has no plans yet to fund the third and final nutrient removal phase.

Council has set a target date of 2045 to reach its goal of capturing 85 per cent of combined sewer overflows, by replacing the city’s network that combines household waste and storm water with separate systems, at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion. But city staff have maintained that project could take until 2095 without funding from other levels of government.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said in a statement to CBC News that he expects council will have “a thorough discussion” on the impacts of rates and options for funding the next phase of the sewage treatment plant.

“My focus remains on getting the new plant built while keeping water/sewer rates affordable for all Winnipeggers,” he said.

Rollins also raised a motion calling for another report on the impact of increased water and sewer rates on businesses, particularly water-intensive industries.

Both motions received support from the city centre committee. They need final approval from council.

View original article here Source