Murfreesboro trash hauling bills will increase in July as part of plan to cover city costs
Murfreesboro residents will see their monthly trash hauling bills climb by $2 per cart in July, city officials decided Thursday.
The monthly bill approved by the Murfreesboro City Council will increase to $9.50 per cart for the weekly service. The council also raised monthly commercial trash hauling fees by $5 per cart for a new bill of $35 starting in July.
The new rate is part of a Murfreesboro government plan recommended by Assistant City Manager Darren Gore to cover more of the costs for solid waste services.
“The long-planned increase moves the city solid waste utility service toward self-supporting operations,” Gore said in a press release from the city. “The 10-year Solid Waste Plan includes a gradual fee increase over eight years toward the goal of full recovery.”
The increase in trash fees will generate over $1.4 million in additional city revenues and bring the total billing collection to $6.7 million. The expected total covers over 60% of the city's the Solid Waste Department’s $10.5 million in the proposed budgeted expenses for the next fiscal year that starts July 1.
Trash fees going up? Murfreesboro monthly bills may rise by $2 yearly to $23.50 by 2030
City long-term plan will convert waste to energy
The longer-term plan would raise monthly residential bills by $2 annually until reaching to $23.50 per cart by July in the fiscal year 2030-31. The commercial monthly bills would go up annually by $5 per cart until climbing to $55 by July of the fiscal year 2027-28.
The 10-year Solid Waste Plan includes the city building a waste-to-energy operation at 2120 Butler Dr. on the south side. The operation involves a solid waste transfer station where city garbage trucks can unload and "qualified biogas facility" to process city trash into a biomass fuel feedstock for generating renewable natural gas, according to the press release.
Regardless of whether the renewables project becomes reality, the city must still proceed with a transfer station to load the dumped trash to semi-trucks for transporting to an out-of-state landfill, the press release added.
City officials expect the local, private Middle Point Landfill to close within about five years.
The landfill, which is owned by Arizona-based Republic Services, is off state Route 66 (East Jefferson Pike) and U.S. Highway 231 (Lebanon Pike) in Rutherford County's Walter Hill community near the northern boundary of Murfreesboro.
Middle Point is expected to reach capacity by June 2028, according to a letter from landfill General Manager Michael Classen to Mike Kusch, chairman of the Rutherford County Commission Public Works and Planning Committee.
'A pending crisis': Rutherford County to ship out trash when Middle Point Landfill closes
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Proposed Murfreesboro monthly trash hauling fees
Current residential fee per cart: $7.50
Proposed residential fee per cart after $2 increase starting July 2023-24 fiscal year: $9.50
Proposed residential fee after annual $2 increases by July 2030-31 fiscal year: $23.50
Current commercial fee per cart: $30
Proposed commercial fee per cart starting July 2023-24 fiscal year: $35
Proposed commercial fee after $5 annual increases by July 2027-28 fiscal year: $55
Source: Murfreesboro Assistant City Manager Darren Gore
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Murfreesboro trash hauling bills will increase in July
