At last night’s council meeting Council voted to raise resident garbage fees as proposed by Mayor Andy Gardner by a vote of 5-2. Chris Hallum, Michael Kline, Joe Jarmuszkiewicz, Tanya Taylor Draper, and Dan Knecht all supported the fee increase, while Nancy Fellows and Janet Majka voted no.
Fellows and Majka requested the Mayor use city funds to pay for the increase, about $35,000. Fellows said that residents are already burdened by recent tax increases and decreases in city services, and many are suffering the economic hardship due to coronavirus. City funds were used to operate the brush drop-off that Mayor Gardner closed and no announcement has been made how the funds used for the closed facility will be used in the future.
Mayor Gardner, whose 2020 budget increased city spending by almost a million dollars over the previous year and plans to put another property tax levy on the ballot in November, did not approve of using city funds to offset the increase to residents.
This latest increase in garbage rates is the third increase in rates in less than a year.
