Milledgeville trash collection fees go up slightly after being stable for years
Summary
On their first bill of 2022, Milledgeville residents likely noticed a slight increase in the cost of trash collection, the first for the city in eight years. City officials confirmed to Lake Country Today that the $14.50 collection fee had […]
On their first bill of 2022, Milledgeville residents likely noticed a slight increase in the cost of trash collection, the first for the city in eight years.
City officials confirmed to Lake Country Today that the $14.50 collection fee had been the same since 2014, but residents will now pay $16.50 for trash collection services.
“It is 100% based on the fact that it’s costing us more money, from a city perspective, to pick up people’s trash,” said Hank Griffeth, Milledgeville City Manager. “That’s based solely on the fact that our agreement with waste management expired at the end of 2021.”
Griffeth explained that the city council chose to extend the contract with Waste Management for one year while the city explores other options.
The city issued what is known as a “Request for Proposal” or RFP, which means the local government has a need in a particular service area and is seeking proposals from companies to fill that need.
Griffeth said that despite the $2/month increase, city residents will still benefit from the current contract. He believes that the twice-monthly recycling collection through Waste Management is preferable to the recycling center used by county residents.
“We feel like we’ve got a good contract, we feel like we’ve got a good service,” he said. “We’ll just have to see what the RFPs prove out to be in terms of cost as we get down the road.”
As for whether the rate will go back down, Griffeth said this would likely depend on many factors like inflation, the cost of labor, material, and fuel.