Waukesha council adopts $160 annual garbage and recycling fee after weeks of debate

The Waukesha Common Council voted 9 to 5 to adopt Resolution 2025-23, creating an annual $160 per-household fee for residential garbage and recyclables collection and disposal and moving the service funding out of the general fund into a special revenue fund.

Councilors adopted the fee after a presentation from City Administrator Tony Brown and Finance Director Joe Sherrill that framed the measure as part of a multi-year financial management plan to address projected structural deficits. Brown said the proposal would reduce the property tax levy by about $2,000,000 and place garbage and recycling costs into a fee that will be adjusted to reflect contract increases from the city’s private hauler.

Supporters said the fee targets service users rather than all taxpayers and helps avoid cuts to core services. Opponents and many public commenters said the charge would burden renters and small landlords and that the timing of billing was unfair.

Why this matters: city staff showed projections that without changes the general fund would move into deficit beginning in 2027 and worsen through 2029; the fee narrows that gap in the projection. Staff presented a scenario in which the 2029 net…