The following letter was submitted by Ian Findlay
Members of Guelph City Council are preparing for public delegations Monday night regarding the 2016 capital and operating budget.
As in the past, there will be delegations from condo owners in Guelph seeking a rebate from the City for garbage collection.
They say that because they have private garbage collection, they should receive a refund from the city for the portion of taxes that represent garbage collection.
The condo owners say that they double pay for garbage. Once in their condo fees and again in their property taxes.
They say this is unfair.
I recently became a condo owner of a commercial unit in a mostly residential condo building.
The condo building has private garbage collection despite the fact that the City garbage collectors drive by the building 10 times a week.
The commercial units in our building use the City’s 3-stream curb-side waste collection system.
Commercial condos do not have access to the private garbage collection system that services the residential condos.
Yet commercial condo fees help pay for the private garbage collection enjoyed by the residential condos.
Commercial condo owners are not able to get a refund from the condo corporation for a service that they are paying for twice. Once in condo fees and again in property taxes.
Time for the condos to tidy up their own trash before tossing it about the City.
ian