Consultants recommend 2026 increases and index change for solid-waste rates

Consultants from Burns & McDonnell presented the citysolid-waste cost-of-service study during the June 12 workshop, recommending a multi-year approach to recover rising operational costs.

The firm said the industry-specific CPI for "garbage and trash" has risen faster than general CPI over the last several years and proposed that College Station switch its annual rate index from CPI-U to that sector index. For FY2026 the consultants recommended a one-time catch-up adjustment roughly equivalent to 5 percent plus the sector CPI (for a combined initial increase in the neighborhood of 10%) for single-family, multifamily and roll-off services; commercial front-load customers would see CPI-only adjustments in 2026 because the commercial class currently over-recovers its costs and subsidizes other services.

Consultants explained underlying drivers: labor, vehicle and disposal costs have increased materially and single-family bulky/brush pick-up and multifamily bulk handling are high-cost, peak-period services. The study proposed program options including contracted peak-period brush-and-bulky pickup for multifamily during move-in/out windows to relieve on-demand spikes. Burns & McDonnell also benchmarked College Station rates against other university communities and found the cityremains competitive despite under-recovery in some classes.

Councilmembers asked for implementation detail and expressed interest in revenue-neutral program design options (pay-as-you-throw tiers, go-back fees, frequency changes) to reduce burdens on lower-use customers. Staff said the recommended indexing and proposed FY2026 adjustments will be included in the draft fee resolution for council review during the budget process; no rate ordinance was adopted at the meeting.