Rates are on the rise at the Glenmore landfill, starting next year.
At Monday's meeting, council approved changes the increase, which includes a $5 dollar charge for yard waste, which had previously been free.
Utility Services Manager Kevin Van Vliet says given that the newly approved landfill expansion plans that will cost roughly $50 million, there was no other option.
"If we don't adjust our rates, and knowing the pressures that we have from expansion that we need to do, we will run into a deficit position within a couple of years," he said.
"We will drain our reserves, and will be in serious financial difficulties as of about 2020."
Though they likely won't be popular, he says they'll hardly be unfair.
"Our rates are by far the lowest rates in the Okanagan Valley, and I would say that that extends across the province for the most part," he said.
"Certainly on the coast, whether it's Whistler or some of the other communities on the Island, nobody's paying $65 a tonne anymore."
That fee of $65 per tonne will be increased incrementally over the next couple years, up to $100 per tonne by 2020.
As well, minimum fees for garbage will go up from $10 to $11.
Van Vliet was also asked if there was any concern that there would be an increase in illegal dumping.
"There isn't necessarily a direct correlation, some people will illegally dump even with this rate," he said.
"But it also is really important that we recover our costs, and that we don't end up putting ourselves into a deficit position, and having the landfill continue to self-fund. So outside of that, there isn't really an option for us."
He also re-iterated that with the landfill remaining as a self-sustaining operation with the rate hikes, there will be no need for it to impact taxation.