Committee recommends garbage rate hike for 2018
Rome residential customers last saw an increase in trash collection fees two years ago.
Rome’s public works committee is recommending a 2.5-percent increase in garbage pickup rates for the coming year.
Public Services Manager Kirk Milam said Wednesday that translates into a hike of about 30 cents a month for the average residential customer with a 65-gallon cart.
“The solid waste collection is an enterprise fund, so it pays its own way,” Milam said.
The last residential increase came in 2015 and commercial customers saw a slight rise last year.
The cost for a yard waste cart will rise to $1.55 a month from $1.50 a month. For household garbage, the minimum fee will go to $4.15 from $4.05; a 65-gallon cart will go to $9.65 from $9.40; and a 95-gallon cart will go to $14.80 from $14.45.
“That’s a pretty good deal when you consider we pick up just about anything anyone puts out,” Milam said.
Dumpster collection will go to $3.55 from $3.45 per cubic yard for the first container. Commercial pick-up will rise to $11.75 from $11.45 for a 65-gallon cart and to $17 a month from $16.60 for a 95-gallon cart.
The public works committee, chaired by Commissioner Sundai Stevenson, agreed to recommend the increase for 2018. Milam said the new rate proposal is scheduled to go to the full Rome City Commission at its Oct. 23 meeting.
No change is planned for penalties, which include a $20 assessment for mixing non-recyclable material in a recycling cart and $10 fees for contaminating a yard waste cart, leaving trash outside a cart or failing to bring carts in from the street.