Finance Committee recommends $160 annual garbage and recycling special charge, citing levy limits and budget pressures

The Waukesha City Finance Committee voted unanimously on Sept. 30 to recommend that the common council adopt resolution 2025‑17, which would establish a $160 annual special charge for residential garbage and recycling collection and disposal. The committee's recommendation will be on the council agenda next Tuesday.

City Administrator Tony Brown said the fee would remove garbage and recycling costs from the general fund and place them in a special revenue fund so only households that receive the service pay for it. "All costs related to that, whether that's collection or disposal, are covered by the general fund" today, he said, and moving them to a user‑based special charge protects other services from year‑to‑year cost increases.

Brown and Finance Director Joe Shiro presented the numbers staff used to build the proposal. Staff told the committee they would reduce the property tax levy by $2 million and set the user charge at $160 per unit; for an average single‑family home (staff used an illustrative assessed value of about $350,000) the combination of the fee plus the levy reduction produced an estimated net impact of about $49 in 2026. Brown emphasized those numbers are estimates: "Please pay attention to where it says estimated — this calculation is subject to change with final assess[ment]," he said.

Committee members and members of the public raised equity and technical questions. Adele Vogel, a landlord at 1090 Baxter Street, said the fee would be a cost shifted to tenants: "Now I'm gonna add another $13.33 per month per tenant," she said, urging the committee to consider pass‑through effects on affordable housing. Frank Palm, a resident, estimated that at 30,000 households a $160 fee would generate about $4.8 million; staff did not confirm that count and the figure was presented as the resident's arithmetic.

Members asked whether owners of properties that do not receive city pickup (for example condos on private roads or buildings with private collection) would pay the fee; staff said owners already paying private collection would not be charged the $160 special charge and that the levy reduction would offset some taxpayers' bills. On opt‑out and vacancy questions, Brown said there is no opt‑out for properties that receive the service and staff would investigate whether a statutory mechanism could exempt long‑term vacant units.

Brown framed the proposal as a response to long‑running structural pressure: strict state levy limits and reduced state shared revenue have narrowed the city's ability to increase operating levy revenue in step with rising costs. The mayor, identified in the transcript as Mayor Riley, also urged the committee to support the resolution, saying state law and levy limits left cities with limited options.

Chair (speaker 2) moved the committee motion recommending the resolution; an alderman seconded, and the committee approved the recommendation by voice vote. The recommendation now proceeds to the common council, which will consider adoption and any statutory notice requirements before implementation.

Next steps: staff said the resolution would appear on the council agenda next Tuesday and statutory notices required by state law would be issued to affected households if the council approves the change.