San Antonio City Council got briefed Aug. 29 on proposed increases to two fees related to the city’s solid waste disposal process.

The background

City staff’s proposed fiscal year 2023-24 budget recommends raising the monthly fee for a medium 64-gallon trash cart from $18.76 to $19.76 and for a large 96-gallon garbage cart from $26.76 to $30.25.

The budget also suggests hiking the monthly solid waste environmental fee from $1.74 to $3. This fee funds services such as bulky item collections, hazardous item drop-off sites, and addressing illegal dumping and homeless encampments. No change is recommended for a small 48-gallon garbage cart.

City officials said the city has kept its solid waste fees flat for residents for the last four years and absorbed the increases in expenses by using its fund balance, or reserve funds.

However, the cost of service has since risen because of increasing costs for labor, equipment and disposal fees, according to local officials.

The impact

The solid waste management department covers more than 370,000 homes citywide twice a week. City officials said customers could save anywhere from $125 to $189 yearly if they were to switch from having a large or medium trash cart to a small one.

What they’re saying

“We are finding ourselves with the need to propose a rate increase in order to maintain the same city services that we’ve been providing,” said Steve Newman, the director of the San Antonio Solid Waste Management Department, in an Aug. 16 budget information meeting.

District 10 Council Member Marc Whyte expressed concern that solid waste fee hikes may offset efforts to save taxpayers money, such as the city’s recent increase to its property tax homestead exemption.

“When you pile all that on, what are we doing to save our folks out there these dollars?” Whyte said.

What’s next

Council will have one more public hearing about the city’s proposed budget at 9 a.m. Sept. 7 at council chambers, 114 W. Commerce St. Council will vote on the budget Sept. 14.

Customers may call 210-207-6000 or 311 to ask for a small bin.