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City gets solid-waste rate study: staff proposes CPI-linked increases, brief pilot for bulky-item spikes
Summary
Consultants presented a cost-of-service study recommending indexing rates to a garbage-and-trash CPI and a modest catch-up increase for single-family, multifamily and roll-off customers to recover rising labor and equipment costs; council asked staff to refine options for bulk/multifamily collections during peak student move windows.
Consultants presented a comprehensive solid-waste cost-of-service study to Council on Thursday and proposed moving College Station's collection rates from a general CPI index to an industry-specific "garbage and trash" price index and adopting a modest catch-up increase for some customer classes in fiscal 2026.
"About 75 percent of the city's costs are people and trucks," the consultant said, explaining why industry-specific inflation has outpaced the CPI used for prior annual adjustments. Staff recommended indexing future rates to the Bureau of Labor Statistics garbage-and-trash index and implementing a one-year catch-up for single-family, multifamily and roll-off service (a combined increase staff showed in its model as roughly 10 percent for those classes in fiscal 2026). Commercial front-load rates would be adjusted only by the garbage-and-trash index because commercial services currently over-recover total cost of service.
Council asked for clarifications on how the changes would affect the city's competitiveness and whether the private sector could undercut municipal service; consultants and staff said commercial rates are already competitive and that other cities contract out some services but the city's service levels are high and the operation appears efficient.
The study also examined adding structured bulky/brush pickup for multifamily and commercial properties to address recurring move-in/move-out trash spikes. The consultants recommended a pilot that would contract private haulers for peak weeks rather than buy additional city trucks and staff year-round. "A private-sector contract during peak demand periods may be the most cost-effective option," the consultant said.
Council asked staff to return with an implementation schedule and, where appropriate, fee-resolution language. Any rate change would be reflected in the proposed fiscal-2026 fee resolution and appear in the FY26 budget process.
What's next: Staff will incorporate the study recommendations into the fiscal 2026 fee resolution and return with final rate and program language. Council asked staff to develop a pilot approach for multifamily bulky-item collection during peak windows.
