Metro official defends proposed solid-waste fee increase as council presses for details

Metro Councilor Garrett Rosenthal visited the Tualatin City Council on May 26 to outline Metro’s priorities and answer council questions about parks, housing and rising regional solid-waste fees.

Rosenthal said Metro’s responsibilities include long-range planning, parks, natural areas and regional services such as the Oregon Zoo and the convention center. He highlighted the region’s future-vision process, which will gather community input over the coming year to inform policy priorities for the next 50 years.

The most contested portion of the presentation concerned solid-waste funding. Rosenthal said Metro is proposing a roughly 10% increase in the per-ton waste-fee and a 5% increase in the regional system fee. “The reason for the waste increase is that these are services that we will continue to provide but the tonnage, as you all know, has dropped and so we have less revenue,” he said. Rosenthal estimated that the change would amount to about a “50-cent-per-month” increase for a typical residential bin on the Metro portion of the bill.

Council members pressed for detail on the numbers and the distribution of cost increases. Councilor Reyes said residents are concerned about cumulative cost impacts and the council asked whether Metro had considered stepping back from some service areas or contracting differently. Rosenthal described recent cost-saving moves — including staff reductions, transferring some services to the private sector and changes at the South Metro facility — and said the adopted increases were intended to limit service cuts while responding to inflation and a fall in revenues.

Metro staff also described two large housing efforts that affect Tualatin and the region: the 2018 affordable housing bond, which the agency says has funded hundreds of homes, and the 2020 Supportive Housing Services (SHS) program, which provides services and placements for households facing housing instability. Metro officials acknowledged early implementation challenges with SHS and said an oversight committee is working to refine performance measures, training, and coordination with counties.

Councilors asked how Metro plans to sustain SHS beyond its current timeframe and how community engagement is being prioritized for the future-vision work. Rosenthal said polling and outreach are underway and that Metro has formed a youth committee and other advisory bodies to broaden input.

The council raised questions about hazardous-waste services (including sharps collection) and whether Metro could expand or improve local disposal access. Rosenthal agreed to follow up with specific local-service details.

Next steps: Metro agreed to provide more detailed financial breakdowns for the waste-fee proposal, clarification on SHS extension planning and more targeted outreach information for the future vision.