Committee Declines To Support Trash Fee Increase
A proposal to increase trash fees in the city of Cheyenne by five percent has once again failed to win the support of the Cheyenne City Council Finance Committee.
On Monday Councilman Scott Roybal motioned in favor of the proposal but Councilman Mike Luna, who has been a consistent critic of trash fee increases, declined to second the motion. Since they were they only regular committee members present, the proposal died for lack of a second.
Committee Chair Jim Brown, who doesn't vote except in cases of a tie and who can't second a motion, commented after the proposal died that he couldn't believe the proposal couldn't get a second for discussion purposes after an extra two weeks had been allotted to allow more information on the proposal to be gathered.
Despite the lack of support in Finance Committee the full City Council will still have the final word on the issue. That body postponed making a decision on the proposal at it's May 26 meeting until June 8th.
The current proposal to increase sanitation fees by five percent over each of the next five years is scaled back from an original proposal of an eight percent increase over each of the next five years, which was recommended by a consultant hired by the city to study the issue.
Supporters say the increase is needed to pay for an upgrade of the city's solid waste transfer station, which they say is too small and too old to handle current demands. They also say a lack of room at the Happy Jack Landfill needs to be dealt with within the next few years.
But opponents aren't happy that money from sanitation fees continues to go to other city agencies, as has been the case for many years. One resident who spoke against the oncrease before the Finance Committee on Monday said the real issue "isn't need but greed".