Detroit City Council OKs $210.7-million solid waste contract that will hike resident fees

Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved two trash hauling contracts totaling $210.7 million that will increase garbage pickups but raise residents' fees annually.

The $87,761,352 contract with Priority Waste and $122,945,186 with Waste Management of Michigan are set to launch in June to provide weekly pickups. Priority Waste will replace GFL Environmental, whose services frustrated residents, Mayor Mike Duggan said in a December community meeting as he pushed for the new vendor. The contract period runs from June 1 through May 31, 2029.

Waste Management services the west side of Detroit while GFL serves the east side, Duggan said. Trash pickups will run weekly for curbside, bulk, recycling, yard waste and debris from vacant lots. Many services have been offered biweekly.

Councilmembers Angela Whitfield-Calloway and Coleman Young II opposed the Priority Waste contract. Members Whitfield-Calloway and Scott Benson and President Pro Tem James Tate opposed the Waste Management contract.

Council members were concerned about the hefty price tags, which will raise the city's cost from $28 million to $40 million annually. Residents currently pay $240 annually and will tack on an additional $10 a year. By July 1, fees will reach $250 then hike to $260 by July 1, 2025, and again to $270 by July 1, 2026. Calloway and Young also opposed the $10 hikes.

City spending holds down residents' higher costs

Budget Director Steve Watson told council members last week that if residents sustained the costs, their bills would go from $240 to about $350 a year by the end of the contract. Instead, the city opted for a hybrid approach.

"The proposal is the general fund is paying for about 72% of the incremental cost and the fee increase paying about 28% of the cost. So the city budget is still bearing the larger share but protecting that general fund budget with a little bit of an additional resource from the increase," Watson said.

Ron Brundidge, director of public works, issued a survey to residents of which more than 70% of the 13,3000 respondents supported weekly solid waste pickup. In a second survey of 9,763 respondents as of Monday afternoon, about 73% indicated they would support $10 increases. Respondents were from all ZIP codes in the city, Brundidge added.

Resident questions $10 monthly increases

Vendors will be responsible for purchasing their own equipment and sourcing their own staff for the contract period. Matt Allen, director of public relations and government affairs for Priority Waste, told the Free Press the company plans to hire "dozens of Detroiters" and provide incentives to pay residents to get their commercial driver's license.

Resident Beverly Jones was surprised cleanup from vacant lots was not already part of the general trash pickup services.

"I’m very surprised that our current tax dollars are not covering such services," Jones said during public comment. "I’m a little concerned paying an additional $10 each year … without there being some type of performance metrics in place to show the cost of what I would be paying. Is it worth it when we struggle today with the trash that’s being dumped in these locations?"

Headquartered in Clinton Township, the company operates 2.3 million pickups a month in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Detroit marks its 44th municipality, Allen said. Councilman Coleman Young asked Priority Waste President Todd Stamper to address issues he heard about diversity, equity and inclusion within the company, without providing further details.

Stamper at the meeting said his company hires people of various backgrounds. Whitfield-Calloway asked how much of the nearly 700 employees include minorities or African Americans, of which Stamper responded with 57% or more.

"No one has brought it to my attention that we’ve had diversity issues," Stamper said. "This would be the first time anyone has said that to me."

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit City Council approves $210.7 million trash hauling contract