Glendale staff seeks council consensus to raise landfill gate and handling rates to cover rising costs

Glendale city staff on April 8 presented recommended increases to landfill gate and handling rates, saying the adjustments are intended to preserve the landfill’s fund balance and pay sharply rising operating costs. At a council workshop, staff asked for council consensus to advance the recommended rate schedule to the April 22 council voting meeting; council members generally signaled agreement, while one member withheld consensus.

The landfill, opened in 1973, operates as an enterprise fund supported by user fees rather than general fund revenue. “The landfill is an enterprise fund, and we are wholly supported at the landfill by our user rates,” Director of Field Operations Michelle Wetanko told the council. Staff presenter Mr. Carr said the item was “an action item, and we will be asking for consensus on taking rates forward to the next council meeting.”

Why it matters: staff said current expense trends — fuel, insurance, equipment costs and a looming Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) per‑ton fee increase — are outpacing revenue and risk eroding the landfill’s required fund balance. The city’s five‑year forecast showed the fund falling below the 15% balance requirement in FY2028 and going negative in FY2029–FY2030 under current rates, staff said.

Staff reviewed cost drivers and the recommended schedule. Current charges on the presentation included a gate rate of $38.25 per ton, a minimum transaction fee of $35, a $2 per‑ton environmental fee for operations and monitoring, a $6 per‑tire fee, and a $139 hard‑to‑handle fee. Staff proposed raising the gate rate to $50 per ton effective July 1, 2025, increasing the minimum charge to $45, adjusting the ADEQ pass‑through to $0.58 per ton, and raising several handling fees. The presentation said a further $2 increase to the gate, minimum and hard‑to‑handle fees would take effect in January 2026 and similar increases would be applied each January through 2030; staff said residents’ discounted residential disposal rate ($15.79 per ton and one free trip per month up to one ton) would not change.

Staff cited specific cost pressures: diesel fuel costs up 79% compared with the city's prior FY22 presentation (an estimated $307,000 increase), insurance costs up 85% (about $285,000), an ADEQ fee increase from $0.25 to $0.58 per ton (an estimated $153,000 annual expense), and a 55% rise in the estimated replacement cost for a key piece of equipment (from about $1.1 million to $1.8 million). Combined, staff said those items account for roughly $1.4 million in increased annual costs.

Council members asked about impacts. Council Member Conchas confirmed the resident reduced rate applies only to residential customers; staff reiterated that the recommended increases are intended to affect commercial and out‑of‑city customers who can choose alternative landfills. Several members urged caution about driving away volume; others said incremental increases protect landfill life without sudden market shocks.

At the workshop close, staff said it would advertise the proposed rate change and bring the ordinance to the April 22 voting meeting; staff also told the council a July 1, 2025 effective date is intended if council adopts the changes. Because this was a workshop, no final rate ordinance was adopted on April 8.

Ending: staff will bring the formal rate ordinance and supporting materials to the April 22 council meeting for a recorded vote and adoption if council chooses to proceed. The workshop record shows council consensus to move the proposal forward for action at the voting meeting, with one member stating they would not give consensus and asking for additional transparency and outreach for affected small businesses.