FORT VALLEY, Ga. — If you live in Fort Valley, you may have received a notice about an increase to your trash collection bill.
Public Works is now charging 22% more for waste management services and here is why council members approved the rate hike.
Some folks say the price adjustment comes as no surprise. Will Reid is one of them. He moved to Fort Valley three weeks ago and says $5 extra a month for trash collection isn’t much of a concern for him.
"It's like anything else. I think it's kind of the sign of the times that things are more expensive." Reid said.
According to numbers from National Statistics Office of Georgia, annual inflation rates in the state slowed last month. But Reid says he’s aware some people are still fighting the financial impact.
"I kind of understand that things are more expensive than they were 5, 10 years ago, and I just don't see prices going down anytime soon." he said.
Public Works raised trash collection fees from $20 to $25, a 22% increase from what folks usually pay. Public Works Director Antonio Lopez says the Taylor County landfill where they send their trash, raised its rates and so they had to pass it along.
"It was a study done within our department and we saw the need to increase it by $5." Lopez said.
Lopez says if there is an opportunity for savings in the future. They’ll pass those along too.
"We're just serving the citizens of Fort Valley if the cost of landfill fees go down as well as fuel that we could theoretically readjust those fees in the future." Lopez said.
But for now people in Fort Valley will pay an extra $60 a year.