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Solid Waste proposes rate and fee changes, including $35 bulky‑pickup fee; council approves notifications
Summary
Solid Waste Services presented a FY26 budget that would move the service to a full enterprise and proposed a $1.85 monthly increase and a $35 bulky‑pickup fee; council approved staff requests to program billing changes and notify large customers.
Solid Waste Services presented its FY26 budget and proposed fee schedule on Thursday, asking the City Council for permission to program billing changes and notify large customers; council approved the request.
Gregory Jenkins II, interim director of Solid Waste Services, said the department provides weekly garbage and biweekly recycling service to “over a 27,000 households” and averages about 60,000 collections per day. Jenkins highlighted accomplishments including a second recycling audit that collected roughly 89 tons of recyclables for analysis and a reduced vacancy rate in the department from about 24% in July 2024 to roughly 6% at present.
Jenkins proposed a monthly solid‑waste rate increase of $1.85 — a 7.7% rise consistent with the department’s five‑year plan — and several fee adjustments intended to move the operation fully to an enterprise model a year early. The presentation included a proposed new $35 per pickup bulky‑item fee (previously free once per 90 days) and an increase to the yard‑waste tip fee; staff said the change reflects regional landfill charges and seeks better cost recovery.
Jenkins said roughly 5,000 households request a bulky pickup annually and that about 40% of those requests are repeat customers. He also said the FY26 proposal would reduce the general‑fund subsidy to $500,000 and allow Solid Waste to begin FY26 as a full enterprise sooner than planned.
Councilors asked operational questions about service points, fleet and staffing. Jenkins and city operations staff said the department has added more service points over recent years without a proportional increase in fleet or staff and that staff are working to rebalance routes and optimize operations; city management said a staffing and equipment plan will be brought forward to address growth and vehicle replacement needs.
Council moved to allow Solid Waste to program billing changes and notify large customers of the proposed rates; the motion passed. Jenkins said that if the rates and fee changes are approved with the FY26 budget, the department would be balanced and would avoid a $4 million general‑fund need next year.
