Household garbage headed from $335 toward $375 a year, plus recycling already at $50

Households pay a yearly garbage bill that is not the property-tax rate. On July 27, finance said Public Works would come back August 3 to lift that bill from $335 a year to $375 — the most the city can charge for household trash without raising the cap. Staff said the city is paying more to dump each truckload at the landfill. Those dump charges are tipping fees. Property-tax money in the general fund is still covering the shortfall.

Recycling is a second yearly fee, with its own ceiling of $50. The draft budget already takes that recycling fee to the full $50 — about $5 more per house. The $50 is not a bag limit. It is the most the city can charge for recycling under the current cap.

A commissioner asked for a hard look at recycling because the city is paying more than three-and-a-half times as much to dump a load of recycling as it pays to dump regular household trash. That 3.5-times figure is the landfill price for recycling versus the landfill price for garbage, not the household bill. Staff said both fees sit outside millage, so a homestead tax cut would not touch them.

The garbage raise itself was set for the August 3 regular meeting. Staff said even $375 a year would not cover costs, and the ceiling may have to move later.