PHOTO
Some fees at Dunedin’s Green Island landfill seem set to rise significantly from July because more of the operation is to be captured by a government levy, after an audit.
Other fees and charges are either not moving or not moving by startling amounts.
A rearrangement is needed because a waste disposal levy that raises revenue for initiatives designed to reduce waste and encourage resource recovery will probably apply to the soil used daily to cover rubbish.
The government levy itself, for all waste dumped at landfills, is moving from $20/tonne to $30/tonne.
Applying it to the daily cover material — which appears to be required after a Ministry for the Environment audit — would stretch that fee from $5 a tonne to $40 a tonne, a 700% increase.
The ministry required ‘‘corrective actions’’ after an audit in November and the council would respond by applying the waste disposal levy to the cover material, a report to a council meeting this week said.
Changes to fees and charges because of the waste levy expansion would be from 4.7% to 700%.
Dunedin City Council waste and environmental solutions group manager Chris Henderson said staff were working with the ministry to understand the implications of the audit.
A conservative approach was taken for draft 2022-23 budgets, he said.
More information would be received before annual plan deliberations in May.
Changes proposed to fees and charges because of the Emissions Trading Scheme range from 4.1% increases to 25%.
People dumping clean fill could be stung for fee rises of 350% and for rubble, a 175% rise.
The charge for general solid waste at the Green Island transfer station per 50kg will go from $10 to $11.
Household chemical and gas bottle charges are among those not being adjusted.