Overview
- City Council voted Wednesday to let eligible residents use the donation-funded W.A.T.E.R. Fund to pay the new $5 monthly trash administrative fee.
- The ordinance applies to seniors, people with disabilities and low-income households that already qualify for up to $100 in assistance every six months and requires applicants to submit bills, ID and income or disability documentation.
- The $5 fee, approved last week as part of a $7.5 billion budget, takes effect in July and will appear on residents’ August water bills and is expected to raise about $24 million a year from roughly 400,000 customers.
- The fee is set to remain $5 for two years then could rise by $5 a year toward $25, but the mayor and council have tied any increases to improvements in Solid Waste operations and to performance measures that Public Works must deliver soon.
- A city cost-of-service study shows garbage and recycling now cost more than $25 per customer per month, advocates and the controller have raised transparency concerns, and a separate $500,000 proposal to boost the W.A.T.E.R. Fund has been referred to committee for review.