The Essex County Warden has sought to set the record straight after misinformation about fees for Green Bin Program pickup has made the rounds.
Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald has defended the structure set up by Essex County Council for the organic waste collection program.
Residents in Essex, Lakeshore, LaSalle, and Tecumseh see the cost for the program on their tax bills. MacDonald told WindsorNewsToday.ca that it works just like funding for schools or roads.
"I think there's misinformation spread on social media when people just don't know the facts and spread the information," said MacDonald. "This is not voluntary. It's mandatory. It comes from the province. That seems to have been forgotten because we're the folks that do the pickup."
MacDonald added that since Queens Park does not provide money to municipalities to carry out the Green Bin Program, the municipalities must open their wallets and pay for it themselves.
Residents have registered complaints about the program's billing after erroneous information about the costs was posted on social media. The City of Windsor was forced to clarify that its residents will not see a charge for pickup added to their 2026 tax bill.
But that does not mean City residents are off the hook.
"The City's doing it a different way, they're taking it out of reserves," explained MacDonald. "So that's all well and good. People might think they're not paying. They're paying. It's just that they're not seeing where it's coming from. It's coming from reserves."
MacDonald added that this is not new information being provided to residents, as the talk about the Green Bin program has gone back several years.
County residents with questions or concerns about the Green Bin Program are urged to contact the County directly and not rely on internet posts that do not come from the County or the municipality.
Amherstburg, Kingsville, and Leamington do not begin the program until November.
