Trash, water, sewer bills expected to rise in Murfreesboro 'to be self reliant,' city says
Murfreesboro residents may see their monthly trash hauling bill increase by about $2 per cart starting in July.
The proposed increase is part of a plan that will raise monthly residential bills from $9.50 to $11.50 per cart and commercial bills outside the downtown area from $35 to $40 per cart. The downtown area's commercial trash hauling fee would remain the same, at $30 per cart, through fiscal year 2030-31.
The proposal from Assistant City Manager Darren Gore needs budgetary approval from the Murfreesboro City Council before it can take effect July 1.
"What’s driving this is to get that full cost of recovery to be self reliant," said Gore, who estimates that the proposed fees for next year will cover 72.3% of the costs for the service.
The city has been increasing trash fees since it first established a $5 per cart monthly residential bill in January 2019. The bill had climbed to $7.50 by July 2019, when the council also increased property taxes by 35.8%. It was the first property tax hike in 20 years to fund government services in fast-growing Murfreesboro.
Murfreesboro's growth includes adding about 120 trash carts each month to serve the increase in customers, Gore said.
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The proposed increase for the next year will generate about $1.4 million more "to help pay for services," Gore said.
To cover 100% of the costs for residential trash hauling, the monthly bill would need to be $16.50, he said.
The recommended residential fee increase matches the $2 hike applied to this year's bills, when the rate jumped from $7.50 to $9.50.
The Murfreesboro government plan would raise monthly fees every year by $2 per residential can and $5 per commercial can outside the downtown area until fiscal year 2030-31.
The city's plan calls for monthly trash hauling bills to rise to $25 per residential cart and $55 per commercial cart outside the downtown area by July 2030. At those amounts, the fees would cover 103.1% of the operational costs and eliminate the city's need to subsidize solid waste services by using other tax dollars, according to the plan that Gore presented to the council.
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Landfill closure adds to future costs
Murfreesboro officials expect solid waste shipping costs to increase, as well, because the private Middle Point Landfill is expected to be full by July 2027. Owned by Arizona-based Republic Services, Middle Point is off East Jefferson Pike in the rural Walter Hill community on the northside of Rutherford County near Murfreesboro's northern boundary.
Murfreesboro's government responded to the landfill's expected closure by pursuing a plan to build a solid waste transfer station, estimated at a cost of $15-20 million, on a rerouted Butler Drive to the south.
The council is also pursuing plans with WastAway, a Morrison-based company in Warren County, to convert an estimated 70% of the collected trash into a biogas fuel source for sale to industry.
When including efforts to separate recycling materials, the city expects the partnership with WastAway to divert 90% of the solid waste from being shipped to a landfill outside Rutherford County.
The WastAway plan requires additional approval steps from the Murfreesboro Planning Department and must secure private financing before the project can be approved by council and finalized, city spokesman Mike Browning said.
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City staff expects water and sewer rates to increase
Murfreesboro City Manager Craig Tindall told the council that the billing for trash hauling services is no different than how city charges for water and sewer services.
In addition to the proposed fee hikes for trash hauling services, the council will consider increases for water and sewer billing recommended by Gore to cover rising costs.
The average monthly and water sewer bill would go from about $69.44 at the current rates to $70.23 starting in July, accounting for a proposed 1.14% increase.
The average monthly bill would continue to climb to $74.94 by July 2027 to cover all costs, Gore told the council.
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Proposed trash hauling fee hikes
Current monthly bill for Murfreesboro residents per trash cart: $9.50
Proposed monthly bill for Murfreesboro residents per trash cart by July: $11.50
Plan for monthly bill for Murfreesboro residents per trash cart by July 2030: $25
Current monthly bill for Murfreesboro commercial property outside downtown area per trash cart: $35
Proposed monthly bill for Murfreesboro commercial property outside downtown area per trash cart by July: $40
Plan for monthly bill for Murfreesboro commercial property outside downtown area per trash cart by July 2030: $55
Current monthly bill for Murfreesboro commercial property in downtown area per trash cart by July 2030 and in future years through July 2030: $30
Source: Murfreesboro Assistant City Manager Darren Gore
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Trash, water, sewer bills expected to rise in Murfreesboro this July
