It's going to cost a few dollars more to bring waste material to the Altona/Rhineland landfill. Both municipal councils have approved a plan to increase tipping fees over the next three years, starting in July of this year.

The current rate is set at $50.00 per tonne but Altona Mayor Al Friesen says they intend to push that rate to $80.00 per tonne. "Both councils felt the user pay concept needed to be more clearly defined and one way to do that is to raise the cost of accessing the landfill site. So, as of July 1st, we will move that rate to $60.00 and then the following July to $70.00 and then the year after that we'll move it to $80.00 per tonne."

Friesen says the cost of running the landfill is significant and both councils agreed the rate hike was necessary in order to break-even on their operations. The only way to do that was to increase the rate to $80.00 per tonne.

"We're not in that range at all right now, which means the average taxpayer is underwriting the cost of the landfill site. The intent has always been that the landfill operates as a self-sustaining entity and we're just not there."

Tipping fees will also rise for ratepayers who bring a load of waste to the landfill in their vehicle that is under 200 kg. Those rates will rise from the current $10.00 to $12.00 this year, $14.00 next year and $16.00 in 2022.