Gary residents' trash collection fees will likely be going up — but by how much and how they'll be able to pay them remain to be seen.
The city's contract with Republic Services includes annual increases, but the fee the city charges residents hasn't been keeping up, with an estimated deficit of $215,000 this year. A proposal presented to the city council would have raised the monthly rate from $25.65 to $26.42 for the rest of the year and then to $27.21 in 2024.
But those numbers will likely be adjusted. For one thing, the proposed fees wouldn't be enough to make up for this year's deficit, and the Gary Sanitary District Board has now decided it would rather have a single increase in January.
Outgoing council president William Godwin was optimistic that multiple vendors will bid on the city's contract, when the current one ends. "So hopefully, there will be some real competitive negotiation and that we'll, for the citizens, be able to get a rate that is fair and commensurate with what other cities are paying," Godwin said during last week's council meeting.
But council member Linda Barnes-Caldwell would like to drop Republic Services sooner. "I have to call and residents have to call because garbage, trash, recycling and all of that is left behind," Barnes-Caldwell said. "So, we need to really consider looking at someone else sooner than later."
Godwin and other council members also called on the Sanitary District to reopen the service center at 504 Broadway that's been closed to the public since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. "I know for a lot of folks, that's a very convenient and easy way to drop off the funds," Godwin said. "We have a lot of folks that don't use the internet, and so it is a convenience, and I'd like to see that space being used, too."
Instead, Sanitary District Executive Director Spike Peller said his board is looking at placing payment kiosks, possibly at the library, to save costs. "We would have to hire like three or four more people, in order to accommodate the walk-in," Peller explained.
The Gary City Council will continue discussing the proposed rate hike on September 12.
