WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — After decades of Houston County subsidizing trash fees to keep people's costs low, those monthly bills will be rising soon. County commissioners this week voted to re-negotiate their solid-waste contract and raise fees.
That means monthly bills will rise by nearly 70%.
Like clockwork, a waste management truck makes its rounds through a Houston County neighborhood. Marquita Crews says the service is good, but a sudden jump in prices caught her off guard.
"That's quite a big leap from 13 to 21 and you know, why,” she asked.
After announcing potential changes on their Facebook, Houston County commissioners voted unanimously to raise trash collection fees from $13 to $21.95, leaving some tax payers to wonder why.
"I'd like a better explanation on why such a big difference in the change, why not go up just the cost of living,” Crews asked.
Houston officials say the charge is due to a re-negotiation of their contract with their contractor Waste Management. The company cited labor cost changes because of the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation.
But there's another reason prices are going up.
"The other part of the price increase, we were subsidizing the trash pickup. We have been for many years probably 25 years plus," utility director Terry Dietsch said.
Dietsch says now that they'll no longer absorb the additional $4 per customer. He says Waste Management won't reduce its services instead, they're hoping they'll actually get better.
"We're going to try to hold them accountable with defaults in the contract and penalties in place. We're actually going to deduct money from them if they don't perform the service,” he said.
The money that was bridging the trash gap will now go to fire staff and service. The last time an increase happened was in 2019, going from $11 to $13.
Trash collection fees will set in on the April 5 billing cycle.