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Garland landfill director revises C&D fee to $66, MSW gate rate to $50 after model review
Summary
City landfill staff presented a model-based justification for rate changes and council signaled consensus to set the municipal solid waste gate rate at $50 and the construction & demolition (C&D) rate at $66 for next year, a modest increase staff says preserves revenue while managing airspace.
Chris Hoofenagle, the city’s managing director of landfill and sanitation, walked the Garland City Council through a two-part model — an economic/market analysis coupled with experiential and behavioral factors — used to set municipal solid-waste (MSW) and construction-and-demolition (C&D) rates.
Hoofenagle described historical rate moves and a 2023 decision to create a separate C&D fee to better align revenue to the cubic yards of landfill airspace C&D consumes. After reviewing how the model balances tonnage loss against differential revenues, he told council: "I think we're comfortable moving the CND rate to 66 and leaving the MSW rate at $50 for next year." The presentation included comparisons with four nearby landfills and sensitivity tests tied to distance, truck economics and competitors' pricing.
Council members pressed staff on life-expectancy estimates for local and nearby landfills and on whether higher fees would push commercial haulers to other jurisdictions. Staff said Garland's landfill currently has an estimated 24–26 years of remaining life and that the model judges a modest C&D increase as low-to-moderate risk to tonnage while preserving revenue. Several council members framed the increase as protecting long-term resident benefit of local airspace and general-fund receipts.
The council gave informal consensus for the $50 MSW and $66 C&D rates, with staff directed to reflect the change in the budget materials that will be adopted in August. No formal vote was taken in the work session; final adoption will occur at a regular council meeting with any required ordinances.
