The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly adopted Ordinance 2091 on Nov. 3, 2025, raising the monthly community residential disposal fee from $23.57 to $27.34 per residential unit to cover increased disposal and shipping costs and planned capital needs at the Deer Mountain solid-waste facility.

City Public Works Director Seth Brackie told the assembly the proposed increase applies to residential disposal (the fee covers disposal, recycling, white goods, household hazardous waste and the spring cleanup) and that the city and borough use a community-wide approach so residents inside and outside the city boundary pay the same residential unit rate. Brackie said the community produces nearly 10,000 tons of municipal solid waste annually, that the facility bales and ships containers to the Lower 48, and that rising operational costs and equipment-replacement needs drove the request. He noted the fee was $15 in 1999 and had been held at relatively low levels for years before incremental increases, and that the proposed rate remains below cumulative inflation since 1999.

Assemblymember Charles Matson, who brought questions during the discussion, noted the contract with Republic Services includes an expected annual escalation (Matson calculated the rate could reach about $35.73 per household by 2030 under some assumptions) and asked how the borough would guard against passing through excessive future increases. Brackie and staff said the disposal fee is budgeted and accounted for in the solid-waste service fund and that those funds are used for facility operations, equipment replacement and closure reserves; they also described the difficulty of running recycling programs in Southeast Alaska because of shipping and storage constraints.

The motion to adopt Ordinance 2091 was made by Assemblymember Dowell and seconded; the clerk recorded a vote of five in favor and one opposed (Arntzen), and the ordinance was adopted. The city said it would continue outreach about recycling options, bear-resistant cart distribution and other program details tied to the fee.

The ordinance updates KGBC 8.15.040 and will take effect as provided by borough code. The assembly record shows the fee covers curbside collection (inside-city customers pay an additional collection charge), household hazardous waste, white goods, spring cleanup and residential recycling, and that the Deer Mountain facility is inspected annually by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.