Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 23/05) - Commercial garbage rates will go up - at least for smaller operations, says John Oldfield, owner of Kavanaugh Brothers, but he insists they will be comparable to other jurisdictions such as Edmonton.

"They are going to go up, depending on who it is," said Oldfield.

Smaller proprietors - restaurants and the like - will take a big hit come January, while office tower or condo building owners will see their garbage bills go down dramatically.

"The people who are going to feel the pinch are the smaller buildings that generate as much garbage as the bigger ones," said Oldfield.

A 4,000-square-foot building with a four-cubic-yard dumpster will now pay $182 a month, up from $44 a month under the old system, Oldfield said.

On the other hand, Oldfield said an 120-unit apartment building with two, six-cubic-yard bins getting garbage pick-up three times a week will see a monthly bill of $720 a month.

Under the city's plan - at $11 a unit - that would've cost the apartment building owner $1,320 a month.

"The bigger apartment buildings are actually going to be paying less," he said.

Oldfield said he figured people would be suspicious of the system change.

"I had a feeling people would be thinking that, because we're the only game in town right now," he said. "But if I wanted to cut my own throat I'd be jacking up all the rates and inviting other competitors to come work here."

Oldfield will be working with the city to get information out to building owners within the next couple weeks.

He would've preferred to have kept the status quo, but it was the city's decision.