This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling District will soon start passing some of the cost of trash cans onto homeowners for newly constructed homes.
Currently, the cost of cans is factored into the $14.75 basic monthly fee in the waste district that serves Cottonwood Heights, Herriman, Holladay, Millcreek, Taylorsville and parts of Murray. Starting Jan. 1 that will change and new homeowners will be subject to a onetime $50 startup fee and a $10 can delivery fee.
Herriman City Councilman Craig Tischner, who is serving his first year on the board of Wasatch Front Waste, didn't feel right that most of the increased cost for those cans stems from new homes popping up in his city.
There's a fairness issue when existing customers shoulder expenses associated with newcomers. "In a roundabout way," Tischner says, "they're subsidizing the cost of the new cans."
Tischner says his city of 37,000 is projected to grow to 100,000 residents, and Wasatch Front Waste Executive Director Pam Roberts says Herriman sees about 600 new homes built per year, compared to perhaps 175 in any of the other cities in the district.
So instead of raising fees for all the district's residents, Tischner proposed what he calls the "simple solution" of a onetime startup and delivery fee for anyone moving into a newly built home in the district.
"Honestly, it's kind of a deal, because each can is $50 apiece, and we're giving them two cans — a recycling can plus a garbage can — so they're actually saving $50," Tischner said.
Roberts says the district needed a way to offset the looming expense of new cans for a booming housing market, but "it didn't feel like it would be right, honestly, to charge $100 for somebody new coming into the district or just starting up service."
So the district cooked up the compromise — keeping fees down for current residents and splitting costs with new homeowners.
The Wasatch Front Waste board has approved the change and is waiting on each of the member cities to sign off on it.
At a Nov. 22 Salt Lake County Council meeting where the council unanimously approved Roberts' recommendation, Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton applauded Tischner for bringing up the idea, even though it impacts his area.
Roberts says she's expecting to see $40,000-50,000 in revenue next year from Herriman alone thanks to the new fee.
— Mike Gorrell contributed to this report.