COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater City Council will be asked Monday night to approve a resolution that would establish a new rate structure effective August 1, 2018 for the collection of garbage and recycling.
It would increase the cost of garbage collection by $1.00 each month to $14.00 for each residence. Senior citizens would pay $12.75 a month.
It’s part of a fee schedule established by Republic Services in a five year contract with the city which runs through April 2022 to keep the City Refuse Fund from operating at a loss. The contract calls for residential garbage collection rates to eventually go up to $15.40 in the fifth year.
The city hired Republic as a third party contractor in 2012 to take care of garbage and recycling collections due to rising costs, the closure of a local transfer station and the need to replace two aging garbage trucks.
City Manager Keith Baker said when the contract with Republic Services was renewed last year that the city refuse fund had been operating at a loss for two years and that there has been no change to the monthly fee for 20 years.
