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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