The St. Helens City Council on June 4 approved a scheduled adjustment to water, sewer and storm drainage rates and a separate community public safety fee, but it declined to approve a proposed increase to residential garbage and recycling rates.

Councilors voted to adopt the utility rate adjustments after staff said the changes were part of a 2021 rate study and budget committee recommendations tied to master plans, operating costs and annual adjustments. “You’ll have that presentation sometime this fall,” a staff member told the council about an updated rate study.

During public comment, residents urged caution about rate increases. Howard Blumenthal said some residents on Social Security could be strained by higher bills and asked the council to keep increases modest. “Those increases can be getting harder on some of us,” Blumenthal said.

The council also voted to adopt a $10.30 community public safety fee as part of resolution 2046 after a motion at the meeting. A resident speaker opposed using the utility bill to collect what they called effectively a tax without a public vote; the resident urged the council to consider a voter-approved measure or alternative financing instead.

Garbage and recycling rates prompted the most public debate. A resident said Hudson Garbage’s recycling program appeared ineffective because he had personally observed trash and recycling being placed in the same truck. Connolly Tomlinson, a Hudson Garbage representative, responded during the meeting and described a split-body truck used in St. Helens that separates recycling from garbage and said recyclables collected in St. Helens and Columbia County go to a Portland material recovery facility (MRF) for sorting and processing.

Councilors expressed concern about passing a large garbage-rate increase without added benefits and asked Hudson to return with a competitive or enhanced proposal if the company requested a rate hike. After discussion and a recorded roll call, the council voted against the proposed garbage and recycling rate increase.

Actions recorded in the meeting packet and read aloud included resolution 2045 (utility rates), resolution 2046 (community public safety fee) and resolution 2047 (garbage and recycling rates). Votes in the meeting transcript: resolution 2045 was adopted with councilors recorded as voting aye; resolution 2046 passed with councilors recorded as voting aye and one abstention; resolution 2047 failed after councilors cast no votes in favor at the roll call.

No ordinance or fee change was rescinded at the meeting; staff indicated a full updated rate study and additional presentations would follow later this year.