City Commissioners are considering a utility rate increase during Tuesday’s meeting.

If approved, the rate increase goes into effect on Dec. 1.

Before voting, the commission will conduct a public hearing on the proposed increases during the meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center.

Increasing landfill fees driving proposed sanitation rate increases

Public Works staff annually reviews and analyzes needs of the sanitation fund and is recommending a 5 percent increase for residential sanitation rates and commercial construction dumpsters.

For regular residential 96 gallon trash containers, the rate would increase by 58 cents, from $11.51 to $12.09 monthly.

A 20 yard construction dumpster would increase by $13 from $272 to $285.

The last rate increase was in October 2015.

Special pick-ups on large appliances would increase from $9 to $10 per pick-up while large appliances with Freon would increase from $40 to $45 per pick-up.

The increases are necessary, staff say, to provide required trash pickup and disposal services, cover increases in landfill fees and to fund capital improvements, specifically replacing the sanitation vehicle fleet.