Council Delays Trash Fee Decision

The Cheyenne City Council has put off a final decision on increasing trash fees by five percent until at least June 8.

The council was scheduled to hold a deciding vote on a proposal to increase the fees by five percent over each of the next five years on Tuesday night. But after about a dozen members of the public spoke against the increase council members decided to put a final decision on hold.

The City Council Finance Committee recently refused to endorse the proposal as well, after previously  voting for an increase. But the full council will have the final word on the issue.

Public Works Director Vicki Nemecek and other supporters say the increase is needed because the Happy Jack Landfill is readily running out of space and the Solid Waste Transfer Station is badly outdated and too small.

But opponents are angry that the city uses some money from sanitation fees to support other city agencies, ranging from the Cheyenne Police Department to Parks and Recreation.

Mayor Rick Kaysen has said several times that the money generated by sanitation goes to agencies that can't generate their own funds, and says the practice isn't unusual among cities across the country.

But opponents have called the money used from sanitation going to other agencies a ":cash cow"  a "slush fund" and 'theft" among other unflattering terms.

The current five percent proposal is scaled back from an original proposal for an eight percent increase over five years. The higher amount was put forward by a consultant who conducted a study for the city. That study is often referred to by supporters of a trash fee increase to bolster their argument.

The next opportunity for the council to decide the issue will be at it's June 8 meeting. The first increase would take effect with the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.