Mayor Kip Holden’s administration is urging to the Metro Council to raise the solid waste user fee by $1 per month—from $19 to $20—saying failure to do so would mean reduced services over the next two years because of a nearly $3 million funding deficit.
William Daniel, Holden’s chief administrative officer, says in a letter to council members that the increase is needed to include glass as part of the recycling services. If the council votes down the increase at its meeting Wednesday, then the administration will attempt to renegotiate the recycling contract and remove glass recycling from the program, Daniel says in the letter. That would balance the 2016 waste collection budget, but a $1.50 fee increase would be needed in 2017 to balance that year’s budget.
“If the monthly fee remains at $19, the cost of the services in the contracts previously approved by the council will exceed user fees by $2.8 million by the end of 2017,” Daniel warns in the letter. “The Plan of Government is clear that parish residents must pay for the full cost of these services.”
The fee is paid parishwide, except by residents of Baker and Zachary, who pay for their own solid waste and recycling services.
The council deferred the proposed increase at its Sept. 23 meeting, setting up Wednesday’s public hearing and potential vote. The recycling contract is set to begin Saturday.
“Since it would not be the recommendation of the administration, nor will time allow for a property tax election, the only option to avoid a deficit in the program is to reduce services,” Daniel says in the letter that was sent to council members and local media outlets on Monday afternoon.
A number of council members reached by Daily Report this morning say they have not decided on how they will vote yet. Councilwoman Donna Collins-Lewis says the council needs to take a realistic look at the fee and be fiscally responsible. She says it may be better to raise the fee only by half of the proposed $1.
Councilman John Delgado says he understands that while the fee increase may be necessary, the city-parish is not offering better services with the increase.
“I’m reluctant to increase, even if it’s a small amount, because we’re not providing them a better service,” Delgado says. “It’s the same service and I’m having trouble with that.”
The fee was first charged to residents in 1991 at $5.65 and was supplemented by money from the general fund and a very unpopular 10.2-mill property tax assessed to residents outside the city limits. The city-parish slowly increased the fee over the years, allowing them to get rid of the property tax. The current fee was set in 2008.
Read Daniel’s full letter to the council. The council convenes at 4 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda.
—Ryan Broussard
