Casa Grande sanitation staff recommend city-hosted recycling drop-offs, propose rate increases and landfill limits

Casa Grande sanitation staff outlined options for recycling, proposed changes to landfill policy and presented a cost-of-service study that would require rate increases to close a projected revenue gap.

Ron Rous, the city’s sanitation superintendent, told the council the division serves about 21,500 residential customers twice weekly, processes roughly 137,000 tons per year at the landfill and that the landfill is projected to reach capacity around August 2041. Staff presented five recycling delivery models and recommended beginning with city-hosted monthly drop-off events to limit contamination and preserve flexibility. "There's no long term commitment, minimal upfront investment," Rous said of the city-hosted option; staff estimated processing fees for collected material at about $85 per ton and annual pilot costs in the neighborhood of $15,000 depending on frequency.

Staff emphasized the tradeoffs among models. A city-run mandatory curbside recycling program would require an initial container investment (estimated at about $1.6 million) and could reduce trash collection from twice-weekly to once-weekly, but would expose the city to significant processing costs (estimated $900,000–$1.4 million annually) and contamination risk. Contracted curbside service with a private hauler was estimated at roughly $10–$15 per month per household (about $2.5–$3.8 million annually). Full privatization models had higher per-household costs ($24–$30 per month) and annual totals estimated at $6 million–$7.7 million.

On rates, staff summarized a NewGen cost-of-service study that shows the sanitation division needs about $10.1 million in revenue in fiscal 2027 and that current rates under-recover by an estimated $839,000 in that year and about $4.9 million cumulatively over five years. NewGen's recommendation included residential rate increases of 10% in fiscal 2026 and again in fiscal 2028, which staff said would move monthly sanitation bills toward cost of service and reach positive revenue recovery by fiscal 2028.

At the landfill, staff reported that since 07/01/2024 the city has recorded about 17,000 free residential loads; in 2025 that accounted for just over 2,500 tons and an estimated $100,000 in foregone revenue. To reduce misuse by commercial contractors and limit fiscal impact, staff recommended limiting free residential loads to six per household per calendar year and charging a minimum $10 fee for loads exceeding the free limit (with standard tipping fees for larger loads, staff cited $38.50 per ton as an example). Adoption of these measures would require an amendment to the city code (Chapter 8.08).

Council members asked how the city would track household loads and whether limiting free loads could increase illegal dumping. Staff responded that the landfill already tracks customer addresses and can report counts by household and that illegal dumping is a potential risk to monitor. Several council members requested public engagement — surveys, open houses and outreach to local volunteer groups such as Cash Grande Recycles — before any policy or rate changes are finalized.

Next steps: staff requested direction on model preferences and public engagement plans; no ordinance or rate ordinance vote was taken at the study session.