According to the agenda for Tuesday's monthly council meeting, one of the recommendations says a voucher scheme would cost too much.
In January, the council opened the gates to its tips in Shepparton and Murchison, allowing ratepayers to dump rubbish for free.
The fee-free waste days were extremely popular with Greater Shepparton residents, however some cars were queuing for more than 45 minutes.
At the time, many people posted on the News and council social media pages that a voucher scheme would work.
The agenda said despite the popularity, it was not feasible to introduce such a scheme.
“The provision of no-fee waste days or other similar initiatives such as waste vouchers come at a cost that ultimately ratepayers fund and are not, as often promoted, `free'.
“Residents would naturally support the provision of free services, however the fundamental question is not should this be provided but rather how the cost of these services are to be recovered, i.e. should recovery of the cost of waste services be based on user pays or socialised via rates.”
The agenda adds that the Victorian Government's new waste policy — which is expected to come at a further cost to ratepayers — has been taken into account in the recommendation.
It said the introduction of the government's fourth bin could cost up to $1.96 million and collecting the extra bins would cost a further $800 000 per year.
The agenda said a one-voucher scheme would cost $370 000, and that would increase to $750 000 with the state government's new waste policy.
The agenda said that, based on its strategy, council should focus on reducing waste as a possible solution.
“With current volatilities in the recycling sector as well as the ongoing environmental impact of waste, council’s strategy and actions should remain focused on waste reduction and avoidance.”
The agenda said the no-fee days in January produced 350 tonnes of landfill waste, 19.5 tonnes of e-waste and large numbers of tyres and mattresses.
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