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Little Rock staff urge utility-rate increase to avoid missed garbage pickups and meet landfill obligations
Summary
City staff told the Board of Directors that a proposed solid-waste rate increase would fund immediate capital needs, reduce missed pickups tied to an aging fleet, and ensure compliance with landfill closure and reserve requirements; alternatives that spread increases would delay necessary replacements and raise long-term costs.
City staff told the Little Rock Board of Directors on Dec. 9 that a proposed solid-waste and combined-utility rate increase is intended to prevent service failures, replace aging equipment and meet legal landfill obligations.
At a presentation on item 15, a city presenter said, "If we don't do this, first and foremost, the issue is gonna be failure of service," and warned the city would be unable to replace equipment or implement routing software vital to reducing missed pickups. Grant, the utility presenter, said his analysis shows the combined monthly utility bill for an average customer would rise from about $92 to $107 in 2026 under the proposed plan, and he described a preferred scenario that front-loads capital investments.
Why it matters: staff said the city must both fund landfill post-closure liabilities and maintain a local 15% reserve. The presentation identified $13,100,000 in…
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