Changes could soon be in store for Santa Fe’s garbage collection service.
The city’s Public Utilities Committee discussed a proposal Wednesday night that would amend Santa Fe’s solid waste ordinance to include modifications that proponents argue will make garbage collection more equitable and increase commercial recycling.
The committee shelved the proposal, but requested it be brought back for further discussion at the group’s Sept. 17 meeting.
Among the highlights of the proposal, sponsored by Councilor Ron Trujillo:
Implement a “Pay As You Throw” system that charges households based on how much garbage they have. Customers paying the current garbage collection base rate of $12.17 per month could use one 96-gallon cart, but would have to pay an extra $8 per month for a second 96-gallon cart or $6 a month for an additional 64-gallon cart.
Residents with extra bags could purchase “bag tags” for $1.50 per bag. Garbage not in a cart or with a tag would not be picked up.
Households that wanted to return an extra cart could do so once at no cost, but would have to pay a $25 fee every time thereafter.
Solid waste management division director William DeGrande said Wednesday that PAYT programs in other municipalities have tended to increase recycling by 15 percent to 20 percent. With higher costs for more garbage, households chose to recycle more items rather than throw them away.
Reduce commercial recycling rates by 50 percent to “encourage recycling in the business community by providing a tangible monetary incentive.”
Raise the cost of large-item pickups from $17.75 plus tax to $25.75, plus disposal costs and tax.
The changes are being recommended “to better reflect the financial environment the division currently operates in and to address inequities we believe exist in the current billing system,” according to an Aug. 20 memo written by DeGrande.
Waste management has seen rising costs in every aspect of its operations over the past few years, and “the division still operates in the black but at some point that will change and we will be faced with a large, across the board increase,” he wrote.
Councilor Matthew Ortiz on Wednesday expressed apprehension about the higher prices for some customers, as well as the initial cost of the new changes.
Councilors also had some concerns that the proposal’s “intent” of encouraging recycling wasn’t clear enough under the current draft.
