The Gainesville City Commission plans to raise residential garbage rates by 20% next year following years of falling behind because of rising costs. A unanimous vote on Thursday directs staff to return with an ordinance to make the change. 

The increase will cost customers between $4.10 and $8.15 per month, depending on what size trash cart they use.  

Commissioner Casey Willits said he doesn’t like that the vote came down to him and the current commissioners instead of previous commissions doing the hard task and increasing rates once the budget started getting unbalanced.  

Public Works Director Brian Singleton said the rate increase is necessary for this fiscal year. He originally brought the proposal forward in August, but the City Commission decided to delay any vote on the residential rates while increasing the franchise fee for commercial waste haulers from 10% to 15%.  

The August proposal recommended increasing rates by 25%, but staff revised that for the presentation on Thursday. For every 5% change in the rate, Public Works would earn around half a million in additional revenue.  

For the current fiscal year, the 20% change in rate will provide an additional $1 million to the budget for residential garbage collection—assuming a start date of April 1. But that increase still fails to plug the budget gap. With the rate increase, the city’s costs will outpace revenue by $2.6 million in the current fiscal year. 

The majority of that deficit will come because of a transfer of $2 million from garbage collection revenues to pay for road repairs. The other $600,000 is the gap between the cost of service and the revenues—$13.9 million in revenue compared with $14.5 million in expenses.  

The road repair transfer is up from $232,000 in the previous fiscal year, and according to city staff, that transfer has averaged $1.2 million annually over the past 13 years. 

An updated 2024 calculation shows that the maximum the city could transfer from the garbage collection budget to road repair is $4.8 million. That transfer is based on calculations of how much trash trucks damage roads. 

Cost for trash cart 

Mini (20 gallons) 

• Current: $20.50 per month 

• 20% increase: $24.60 per month 

Small (35 gallons) 

• Current: $26.50 per month per month 

• 20% increase: $31.80 per month 

Medium (64 gallons) 

• Current: $32.75 per month 

• 20% increase: $39.30 per month 

Large (96 gallons) 

• Current: $40.75 per month 

• 20% increase: $48.90 per month 

The city has increased the residential rate by 5% every other year to accommodate higher costs like inflation. But city staff showed the costs have increased dramatically more than that 5% biannual adjustment. Inflation in only fiscal year 2024 hit 6.5% for trash collection, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics presented by Gainesville staff.  

“So really—as much as it will hurt people and it’s a sudden shock—residential has been getting a deal,” Willits noted, saying the city shielded residents during the pandemic. 

Ward added that while a 20% increase sounds like a lot, a $2 or less increase per week isn’t a lot. But he said he’s aware that it will still impact residents.  

The current residential garbage pickup contract ends in late 2026, and the contract no longer has a renewal option. That contract has been in place since 2009.  

Singleton said the next contract would likely have a 10-year initial term with two possible five-year extensions. He said the longer a contract the better. The longer time frame allows contractors to spread out their capital costs and give the city a lower rate.   

Along with the decision to increase residential rates, the commission voted not to pursue a single contractor for commercial garbage. Currently, multiple contractors operate within the city, and businesses can choose who they want as a provider.  

Commercial trash haulers spoke Thursday and encouraged the City Commission to keep the system, saying that the competition is good. The city has previously tried to switch to a sole provider.  

The attempt hit legal obstacles, but Commissioner Bryan Eastman said economies of scale and reduced roadway wear and tear could bring more benefits than the open market.  

He asked that city staff research and bring back options to still get those benefits while keeping the open market system.  

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut supported the open market system. She said it means more job opportunities. Reducing to one supplier would require fewer employees compared to having all four companies operating, she said. 

She asked the four companies in the room if they all paid at least $15 an hour. One representative called back, “Much higher.”  

She said that the job market benefit was enough for her. 

The residential rate increase will need to return to the City Commission for at least two more votes in early 2025. On Thursday, the rate increase passed 4-0, with three commissioners absent. 

The residential contract will return after city staff issue an invitation to negotiate and select the top responder—likely not until late 2025.  

City staff will research and return any options to change the commercial contracts. The options would include switching to a “pay as you throw” system, and charging customers based on how much they throw away. The research will also include, as Eastman recommended, options to gain the pros of a single contractor while maintaining the open market.