Charges Explained

Most utility bills have eight lines of charges:

Solid Waste Services Fee

We split the yearly cost ($165.60) into three payments of $55.20. 

This fee pays for solid waste services including:

  • leaf collection
  • garden recycling drop-off
  • trucks
  • operating costs

Garbage and Organic Cart Fee

  • This fee covers the disposal and processing costs of your cart contents. Your cart size determines your fee.
  • Garbage/Organic cart sizes and fees. 
  • Garbage/Organics collection schedules.
  • Cart size changes, returns and repair or replace fees appear on your next scheduled bill.

We bill garbage only on the three regular billings of the year. This means if you sell your home in the middle of a billing cycle and ask for a special meter reading, the final bill we produce won’t have garbage charges on it. Your lawyer should make an adjustment for garbage charges.

Monthly Water Charge

Your water meter size determines your fee.

  • 12.5mm (0.50 inch): $2.80 (four-month charge: $11.20)
  • 19mm (0.75 inch): $3.75 (four-month charge: $15)
  • 25mm (1.00 inch): $6.95 (four-month charge: $27.80)

Regular Water Rate

We bill three times a year based on water meter readings. You are billed for every cubic metre (220 imperial gallons) of water you use.

Water rates as of January 1:

  • 2024: $2.112
  • 2023: $1.978
  • 2022: $1.828
  • 2021: $1.742

Sewer Fixed Charge

We charge $10.32 to every utility account within the sewer service area. We’ve held this rate steady since 2009.

Sewer Usage Rate and CRD Sewer Treatment Charge

You have two sewer charges on your bill. One is from Saanich and the other is from the Capital Regional District (CRD), billed through us.

The Saanich rate covers our cost of operations and infrastructure replacement.

  • 2024: $1.698
  • 2023: $1.603
  • 2022: $1.485
  • 2021: $1.409 

 

The CRD rate covers our participation in regional sewer treatment.

  • 2024: $2.149
  • 2023: $2.080
  • 2022: $2.057
  • 2021: $2.051

 

See our Sewer Calculation page to understand how we calculate your sewer usage charges.

Late Payments

We charge a 5% penalty for bills left unpaid after their due date. After December 31, any remaining unpaid utility amounts are transferred to the property tax account.