The rates for trash and recycling may increase next year to help pay for a new recycling center that could be built in 2021.
As more people move to Three Springs and Twin Buttes, the city will likely outgrow the Tech Center recycling facility, said Levi Lloyd, city operations director. A dated estimate anticipates a center costing $1.4 million, but that does not factor in land.
Rate increases will help the city start saving for a new center without having to go into debt to pay for it, consultant Peter Engel told the Durango City Council on Tuesday.
The city could increase monthly rates incrementally over the next three years or increase rates all at once.
An analysis of 2016 rates showed the city has fairly standard commercial and residential rates compared with its peers, Engel said.
“Durango is in the middle of the pack,” he said.
Several councilors favored incremental increases because residents will see another substantial increase for water and sewer rates next year. These rates were approved in 2014 to help pay for major upgrades such as a new sewage-treatment plant.
“I think there is some rate-paying fatigue out there,” Councilor Dick White said.
Incremental increases could be phased in at 5 percent in the first two years and 3 percent in the last year or vice versa. A 5 percent increase would increase a residential bill by 86 cents per month for trash and recycling, bringing the bill to $18.15 for those with a 60-gallon can, according to Engel’s presentation.
The other option would be a 9 percent increase in one year which would increase bills by $1.55, bringing the combined monthly bill to $18.84 for a 60-gallon can.
Small increases in 2017 could avoid major increases later, Councilor Sweetie Marbury said.
“We want to do this right,” she said.
Mayor Christina Rinderle favored the one-time increase because it would save residents money over time. But she said she could accept either proposal.
“I’m interested with what the public has to say about it since they have been hit with so many other increases,” she said.
The council considered variations of the rate structure that would encourage residents to recycle more and by charging more for a 90-gallon can.
But this could cut into the city’s revenue, Lloyd said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
If you go
A presentation on possible rate increases will be given from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Community Recreation Center.
