wh Restaurants Halifax N5, Canada B34 1K Y~ Canada win restaurantscanads.org somites aca id 902-425-0061 oat eons Fo een ico [inet esi nen tse tee ee December 4, 2014 Halifax Regional Municipality Council PO Box 1749 Halifax NS B3J 35 Dear Mayor Savage and Councillors: | am writing to you on behalf of Restaurants Canada and our members in Halifax to take action to reduce the high solid waste removal costs on small businesses. It is my understanding that solid wate is on the agenda for the upcoming meeting of Council Of particular concer to Restaurants Canada is Recommendation 7 from the Integrated Solid-Waste Resource Management Strategy Review ~ Final Report which “amends Administrative Order number 16 to provide for an increase in fees for disposal of ICI residual waste from $125 per tonne to the assessed system cost of $170.00 per tonne” Itis clear from the Stantec Report that the current tip fee of $125 per tonne is already significant higher than most other jurisdictions. A 36% increase to a tip fee of $170 per tonne will be another significant blow to small foodservice businesses already struggling with high tax rates, increasing commercial assessments, new municipal fees and more increases to water rates. Restaurants Canada strongly urges you to adopt the second portion of Recommendation 7 which would allow waste to be disposed of outside the borders of Halifax. This recommendation gives small business operators direct opportunities to reduce costs. Neighbouring municipal jurisdictions, which are also bound by strong Nova Scotia environmental legislation, have expressed interest in taking ICI waste from Halifax at a rate that is less than $100 per tonne. The benefits of amending this provision are two-fold: firstly, both small business operators and Halifax would see a reduction in costs due to competition. Secondly, less waste within Halifax would extend the life of the current landfill further reducing costs to Halifax. Solid waste is an important issue for foodservice operators and the industry has taking significant action to divert a vast majority of its waste from landfill. Since the vast majority of waste is generated back of house, foodservice operators as a whole have managed to achieve a significant diversion rate with a low contamination rate. This success has come at a high cost to small business operators and Halifax must take action to reduce the high cost burden of garbage removal on small businesses. Foodservice establishments already subsidize the garbage removal for residential ratepayers through the disproportionate amount of tax (3 times LUCA DIC AUN Am ea Sean (oc: Uren CUS}the rate) they pay. On top of the high tax rate, unlike residents many restaurateurs pay in excess of $12,000 per year for their own garbage removal ‘Small businesses such as those in the restaurant business are an integral part of Halifax’s social and economic fabric. In financial terms, our industry across the province is made up of more than 2,000 small business operators doing over $1.7 billion in sales. On top of this, for every dollar spent in a restaurant, an additional $1.85 is spent in the rest of the economy. With 32,000 employees, we are the third-largest, private-sector employer in the province. While the industry is large, profits are small with the average Nova Scotia establishment getting by on a pre-tax profit margin of just 5.0%. The financial impacts of the solid waste debate on small businesses are considerable and must ot be taken in isolation. To ensure the job generating small business sector can grow and prosper all changes in municipal costs drivers including commercial tax rates, commercial assessments, water rates, waste removal rates and fees must be considered to get a true picture of the municipal cost burden on small businesses in Halifax. ‘As the debate of the solid waste system proceeds, | trust you will give the views of this important industry due consideration with an eye to reduce costs on the small businesses in Halifax. Vice President, Atlantic Canada