UPDATE (September 14, 2022):
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – Fort Wayne’s trash troubles are not ending. The city is now looking to charge people more to have their trash hauled away by the city’s new garbage collectors.
Fort Wayne fought for over a year to drop its old trash company, Red River Waste, and bring in the new company GFL. Now, city leaders are looking to raise trash rates by about $3 per month to cover extra costs.
The only question is whether Fort Wayne slowly hikes prices, or whether the city drops the full increase on homeowners by next spring.
Proposed rate increase
Read more here
ORIGINAL STORY:
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The City of Fort Wayne Administration says a solid waste rate resolution and ordinance will be introduced to City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
In partnership with City Council, the resolution calls for a portion of the City of Fort Wayne’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to be used to pay eligible Solid Waste Department expenses. To delay an adjustment to the solid waste rate, City Council will be asked to approve setting aside up to $10 million of the ARPA funds.
The ordinance to be introduced will seek City Council’s approval to adjust the monthly single-family residential household fee from $12 to $15.60 beginning July 1, 2023.
A full implementation of a rate adjustment would go into effect on January 1, 2024. It would include a fully adjusted rate of $18.60 plus an annual change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, an additional one percent to ensure the ongoing viability of the City’s Solid Waste Fund, and another multiplier could be incorporated based on variances in the Consumer Price Index in the last six months of 2023.
The solid waste rate has remained the same since 2018. Rates were intended to be adjusted in 2020 but were not due to the service from the previous contractor. The patience and understanding from ratepayers are reflected in the delay and staggered approach to the new rate starting in 2023 which equates to a discount.
A customer’s solid waste bill includes more than the collection of garbage and recycling. The entire solid waste bill includes garbage/recycling collection, garbage disposal, recycling processing, leaf collection, salaries of solid waste staff, cart purchases, fuel/truck payments, utilities, billing, household hazardous waste, neighborhood cleanups, and dumpsters.
Changes to the rate structure are needed to fund current and future solid waste services and ensure the Solid Waste Fund remains stable to meet the solid waste needs of the community.
Following the anticipated introduction on Tuesday, the resolution and ordinance would be discussed and voted on at future City Council meetings.
The resolution can be viewed here
The ordinance can be viewed here
