Harrisburg eyes trash fee increase as treasurer, administration differ on necessity - WGAL Susquehanna Valley Pa.

Harrisburg eyes trash fee increase as treasurer, administration differ on necessity

The cost of trash services in Harrisburg could be going up by a few dollars each month for residential customers, though the city's treasurer and administration officials are at odds on how necessary the increase actually is.

As part of budget-related matters, the city council is set to vote Tuesday night on hiking the city's monthly residential trash fee from $32.24 to $35.57 — a 10 percent increase. Mayor Wanda Williams and administration officials have said the increase is needed to bring in hundreds of thousands of additional dollars that could help offset increasing costs for trash disposal and other public works needs.

But on the eve of a decision, the city's elected treasurer, Dan Miller, said at a news conference Monday that Harrisburg ought to more aggressively go after roughly $12 million in unpaid residential and commercial trash fees that haven't been collected.

Instead, Miller argued the city should have the fees attached to yearly county tax bills instead to discourage property owners from not paying the fee lest they risk the potential threat of losing property through a sheriff sale.

"We don't have the leverage to collect that. I'd like council to give us the leverage to do that. I'd also like the city to start enforcing the law, which is to make sure that these landlords are current on their trash bills," he said, referencing a separate ask that the city enforces requirements that fees and fines be paid to maintain a rental license.

Of the unpaid fees, city officials say roughly $8 million are residential trash fees that the city has started chipping away at with an expanded law department staff. Roughly $1.2 million is expected to be collected by the end of the year, and many residential customers have been set up with payment plans.

The remaining trash fees involve commercial accounts that involve businesses tied up in litigation or are owned by other county or state governments that have not been collected yet.

Harrisburg Business Administration Manager Dan Hartman said the fee increase is necessary because of increased costs for a service that is required by law.

With the fee not having been increased in more than 15 years, Hartman said the increase needs to happen now, and the rate will be comparable to or less than surrounding communities that use private haulers.

"Nobody ever wants to raise rates, but it's a utility," he said. "It's a dollars in, dollars out business. We have to go to the incinerator. We have to pay staff. We have vehicle costs. We haven't done anything here as a city since 2006 with raising these rates."