Board of Public Works to Consider City Sanitation Rate Increase Request

(BLOOMINGTON) – The Sanitation Division will be requesting a rate increase for sanitation services at the March 3 meeting of the Board of Public Works. 

An effort partially to offset the rising costs of recycling, the request will result in an average increase of $.70/month per customer. The additional fees would yield a 7% increase in overall revenues, covering approximately 40% of anticipated increased costs for 2020. 

The Board of Public Works meets Tuesday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers (Room 115) at City Hall (401 North Morton Street).  

Since the City updated it’s waste and recycling collection services in 2017, the global recycling market has declined, impacting the local cost of providing weekly single-stream recycling processing. 

Due to changes in the international commodity markets for processed recyclables, in 2019 the City for the first time in its history of providing curbside collection to residents paid a per ton rate for recycling processing.  Processing 3,243 tons of recyclables at a new rate of $26.40 per ton resulted in unexpected costs of $85,616.40.  

Public Works Director Adam Wason

“Although the costs of providing this service are rising, the City of Bloomington, like our residents, is committed to minimizing our environmental impact,“ said Public Works Director Adam Wason.  “The increase in customer fees will help offset, although not cover the City’s increased costs to recycle.” 

The Board of Public Works was designated by the Common Council, via approval of revisions to Chapter 6.04 of the Bloomington Municipal Code, to determine the final rate structure for the modernized sanitation collection system.

On July 25, 2017, the Board of Public Works approved a Sanitation Modernization Fee Schedule that established a maximum price range for the monthly collection fee charged to residents, per each of the three sanitation cart size options. Initial rates for the program were set near the midpoint of the allowable range for each cart size in order to allow for flexibility in managing rates and costs as markets shifted.

The Department of Public Works is requesting that the maximum fee amounts be applied to all of the sanitation cart size options in order to offset rising costs in delivering sanitation services.  Sanitation rates are based on the size of the solid waste cart (not the recycling cart) a customer chooses.  

Proposed New Sanitation Rates:

The Department of Public Works Sanitation Division requests that the Board of Public Works approved the following fee increases for each solid waste cart size to offset increasing costs being incurred for recycling processing and landfill fees.

  1. 35 Gallon Solid Waste Cart Fee Range: $6.51 (currently $6.22) with an additional weekly pick up at the rate of $1.89
  2. 64 Gallon Solid Waste Cart Fee Range: $11.61 (currently $10.52) with an additional weekly pick up at the rate of $3.38
  3. 96 Gallon Solid Waste Cart Fee Range: $18.52 (currently $16.60) with an additional weekly pick up at the rate of $5.38