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Council discusses $5 increase to sanitation fee to balance operating budget
Summary
City staff told Montgomery City Council a proposed $5 increase in the sanitation fee to $32 is intended to cover operating shortfalls, not capital purchases; council members asked about salary and enforcement details and suggested compromises.
City staff told the Montgomery City Council during its work session that a proposed increase in the city sanitation fee from $27 to $32 is intended to bring the sanitation enterprise’s annual operating revenues and expenses into balance.
The proposal matters because sanitation operations have been running a deficit; if adopted, the increase would reduce the need to subsidize sanitation from the city’s general fund but would not cover capital costs such as new trucks or major equipment purchases.
“Mister Dunson, a city staff member, said the reason for the request to go from $27 to $32 is we currently operate at a deficit ... we are trying to get it to a point where we're operating at a, so that the general fund is not subsidizing the garbage collection and disposal side,” the staff member said. He added that the $5 increase would cover annual operating costs but “does not address capital investments.”
Council member Mister Kenwright questioned the size of the increase and asked whether a smaller compromise — he suggested $29 — could be acceptable. Other council members asked whether the additional revenue would fund salaries. “Part of operating expenses is salary,” Dunson replied, saying the increase would help cover salaries, fuel and repairs.
Jim Wright, identified in the session, and other council members noted that equipment replacement and fewer breakdowns were visible and helpful to operations. Council members also discussed that reducing the subsidy to sanitation would free general fund dollars for other city priorities.
No formal motion or vote on the fee increase was recorded during the work session; the council discussed possible compromises and asked staff to provide further details before a regular meeting vote.
The council’s next regular meeting will include the ordinance amending the sanitation fee; timing and final vote were not reported in the work-session record.
