Waukesha council adopts $160 annual residential garbage, recycling fee after 9-5 vote

The Waukesha Common Council voted 9-5 Tuesday to adopt a resolution creating an annual $160 fee for residential garbage and recyclables collection, shifting funding for the service from the city’s general fund into a dedicated special revenue fund. The council also set an initial due date of Nov. 7 for the first year’s bill and instructed staff to publish notice of the fee.

City Administrator Tony Brown and Finance Director Joe Sherrill framed the proposal as a structural fix to projected future deficits. "We would be reducing the tax the property tax levy by $2,000,000," City Administrator Tony Brown said, summarizing how the change would appear on the ledger. Finance Director Joe Sherrill said the city’s five-year projection showed mounting structural deficits and that the fee helps close the gap; he told the council the projection showed the city would “project being at a…