Overview
- Mayor John Whitmire unveiled Tuesday a $7.5 billion FY2027 budget that starts a $5 monthly trash administrative fee and moves the Solid Waste department into Houston Public Works to steady city finances.
- Finance officials said the $5 charge will appear on water bills for about 380,000 city trash customers and will not apply to roughly 47,000 HOA households that get a $6 city subsidy for private pickup.
- The fee is expected to generate about $24–25 million a year, which falls well short of the roughly $110 million annual cost of solid waste operations.
- Whitmire said the fee will stay at $5 for two years with any later increases left to City Council, while earlier briefings and budget staff described a plan that could step up to $25 by 2032.
- Controller Chris Hollins criticized the plan as shifting costs onto residents as council begins May budget hearings ahead of a June 3 vote, and officials note Houston is the last major Texas city to adopt a recurring trash charge.