Kamloops landfills are running out of money as city hall loses to its neighbour across the river.

While the new city council is faced with an inevitable increase in garbage fees for the public, the new Tk’emlups landfill has been undercutting the city for two years.

“I think the public is very frustrated with being asked to get less and give more,” Coun. Katie Neustaeter said as city savings run dry.

She grilled city staff for not being clear about why solid waste funds were dwindling and for underestimating competition from the new Tk’emlups landfill.

Corporate services director David Hallinan said staff underestimated the “aggressiveness” of the city’s new competitor, but they saw it coming at least a year ago.

“People are going to a landfill that is cheaper and or more convenient for them,” he said.

Tk’emlups and city hall typically coordinate utilities and other services. The First Nation shares sewage system costs and public transit, while it pays Kamloops for fire protection. The landfills mark one of the few, if not the only, areas where the two communities are in direct competition, but that’s not how Tk’emlups Kukpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir sees it.

“It was never about competition because we always had the dump here,” she told iNFOnews.ca Tuesday afternoon.

She wasn’t immediately able to provide more details on the landfill and respond to city council’s concerns.

The Stswékstem landfill at Tk’emlups opened in 2023, replacing its decades-old pit dump. The next year, the Mission Flats landfill saw a massive reduction in drop-offs. Staff said most city rates are higher than the Tk’emlups site’s.

“We have gone from being the only game in town to we are now in business with a competitor… I’m also mindful of that fact that when a new business comes to town and they’re trying to gain market share, they have lower prices… then they jack them back up,” Mayor Mike O’Reilly said.

Staff noted that high diesel prices and private garbage haulers are also putting pressure on city funds, but council largely focused on the competition from Tk’emlups.

Faced with several options, the new city council opted to increase bin fees, with the average home expected to pay $46 more for garbage, recycling and organics in 2027. It comes with a closure of the Bunker Road self-serve recycling facility.

Industrial rates are also going up, but staff noted that could result in even less waste showing up at Mission Flats.

The city’s reserve fund will fall into debt for at least one year. Council will revisit the waste fees next year, while staff review the overall program.