Auburn council approves increase to solid-waste charges after public hearing and debate

The Auburn City Council on June 3 approved an ordinance amending Chapter 20, Article 2 (sections 20-47 and 20-53) of the City Code to raise solid-waste charges, following a public hearing and a period of council debate.

The measure — postponed from a May 6 first reading and then adopted after a public hearing — aims to address a projected shortfall in the city’s solid-waste enterprise fund, city officials said. Council members said the fund is intended to be self-sustaining and that transfers from the general fund reduce money available for other services such as roads, parks and public safety.

Resident Robert Wilkins urged the council to explain recent changes in the solid-waste fund, including salary and benefit increases. “I don’t know where all of this money is going and why it has increased,” Wilkins said during the public hearing, citing what he described as rapid growth in payroll and benefit line items in recent years.

Councilman Griswold said the shortfall effectively shifts costs to the general fund. “Every dollar that we transfer from the general fund into the solid-waste fund is a dollar we lose for other things that the citizens of Auburn expect and deserve,” he said.

City staff and the finance director told the council that the projected shortfall reflects higher service costs, capital-equipment replacement and the need to update aging city vehicles and field equipment. The finance director also clarified that water and sewer funds are separate from the solid-waste enterprise and that the sewer fund’s $84 million figure cited by a resident primarily represents capital assets; “about $12,000,000” of that was unrestricted net position at the end of 2024, the finance director said.

Council members said they conducted multiple work sessions and released supporting information before the vote to give the public time to review. Councilors also noted the trade-offs inherent in using general-fund resources to subsidize an enterprise fund that is intended to operate like a self-supporting utility.

A motion to approve the ordinance carried on a roll call vote. Staff provided a sample utility bill in the meeting packet to show the effect of the increase on an average customer and said budget hearings this summer will offer additional public review of enterprise and general-fund budgets.

The council closed the item after the roll call; no specific vote tallies were provided in the meeting transcript.