A steep hike in Burnaby’s sewer service rate has divided city council this week.

The mayor and council approved a 20 percent increase by a narrow 5-4 vote at a meeting Monday.

Due to ongoing capital projects, including the $3.86 billion North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, Metro Vancouver has increased its sewerage fees by 49.84% for 2025 , according to a report presented at the meeting.

Staff recommended approving a 20 per cent increase in Burnaby, which would mean $123.50 more for single-family homes and $66.50 for condominiums.

The city’s annual sewer tax increase has not exceeded 5% since at least 2020.

Richard Rowley, director of finance – tax services, acknowledged the rate rise would be the biggest since he had been at the city, but said it was actually “good news” because the city ​​has reserves to protect residents.

Nearly 30 percent of the subway increase would be covered by those reserves next year under the proposed plan, he said.

Rowley said municipalities without such reserves will have to pass on the entire 49.84% increase from the metro.

Failing to raise the rate by 20% next year would also result in double-digit increases for the next five years, although Metro’s increases are expected to drop back to 4.8% in 2026, according to Rowley.

“It would be quite difficult to explain to our customers why we offer higher fares than Metro,” he said.

And if subway fares fluctuate over the next five years, Rowley said the city wouldn’t have the “bandwidth” to respond if it didn’t increase fares by 20% in 2025.

But Count. Sav Dhaliwal opposed the rising costs, saying affordability for 2025 was his priority.

He said the city has done a good job building up reserves and they should be used to “take care of the ups and downs” for residents.

“We have a responsibility to our citizens to ensure that the taxes we raise are acceptable, achievable and manageable,” he said.

He proposed capping increases at 9.9% for five years, but his motion was defeated.

Mayor Mike Hurley opposed the motion, saying wastewater treatment plants are expensive and need to be built.

“You can spread it out as much as you want, but ultimately it will catch up,” he said.

The 20% increase was approved, with Councilors Dhaliwal, Richard Lee, James Wang and Pietro Calendino voting against.

The approved plan also included a 0.0% increase for water services, even if Metro increases its rate by 7.2%.

This increase will also be covered by reserves, according to the report.

Water and sewer notices will be distributed to residents in February.

Residents are encouraged to pay their utility bills by March 17 to benefit from the reduced amount.

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