Waste Maintenance Fees to Increase

Starting July 1, the fee that the city charges for waste management—which includes water and solid waste utilities—will increase 8.2 percent for residences and 4.2 percent for businesses. It's the third year in a row that residential rates have risen, and the first year for commercial rates.

Originally the fee increase was to have been spread out over two years, but the City Council voted unanimously at its June 22 meeting to reduce that period to just one year.

Single-family lots will be charged an additional $5 to $8 on bimonthly trash collection bills for the next fiscal year, said Shana Epstein, the city's environmental utilities manager. A multi-family dwelling will see its bimonthly rate rise by as much as $17, she said.

Outsourcing waste management services for residential customers, as the city does for most commercial customers, would not bring rates down, Epstein said. Crown Disposal's contract to clean up the city's commercial trash lasts until April 2012 and has resulted in more gradual business rate increases compared to the steep rate increases that residential customers have seen.

Businesses that utilize the city's trash services will pay approximately $11 more every month during the next year depending on how frequently they subscribe to the trash pickup and the size of their bins, she said.

The Public Works Department plans to use the additional revenue to increase the solid waste enterprise fund reserve from 30 to 38 percent over the next five years, Epstein said.

The only way for the council to avoid increasing waste management rates would be to take money from the city's general fund. Public Works intends to investigate other ways to lower its expenditures, such as reducing staff and extending the use of several trash trucks from eight to 10 years, Epstein said.

"Extending these maintenance programs are ways to keep current staffing levels and still maintain quality service," she said at the meeting.

Using trucks for longer periods of time comes with a price, including higher maintenance fees, City Manager Jeff Kolin said.

Other options for saving money would be to eliminate the alley cleaning program and to collect trash less frequently, he said.

"I don't think we're ready to go there yet," Kolin said.

Councilwoman Nancy Krasne echoed his concern.

"I'm not ready to let my trash go every other week," she said.