<p>Greenwood residents will notice their trash rates jump nearly $1 next month and again later this year as city leaders try to make up a deficit.</p><p>Homeowners will pay $15.70 a month starting March 1, up from the $14.97 a month they pay now, according to city documents. That rate is the same for all residents regardless of their home’s value.</p><p>The Greenwood City Council voted 8-1 to raise the rates at its Monday meeting, with council member Ron Bates voting against it.</p><p>The rate will jump again in November, to $16.45 a month, then again in November 2021, 2022 and 2023. Eventually, it will cost a Greenwood homeowner $18.60 a month for the city to collect trash and recycling, and remove leaves and tree limbs from their properties, a free service the city has long provided to its residents.</p><p>At its last meeting, city council members argued Greenwood homeowners pay less through the city’s service than they would in other areas of the county, or if they contracted the services on their own.</p><p>The city contracts with Indianapolis-based Best Way Disposal for its services, which it provides to homeowners at a rate above what the city pays, which is currently $9.95 a month per home.</p><p>That difference funds the city’s waste management department, which fell into the red last year due to the city’s growing population and the department’s growing demands.</p><p>The waste management department’s budget is for about $3.6 million this year, which includes debt service payments on leases for grapple trucks, a tub grinder, leaf machine, dump truck with a plow and 3/4-ton truck with a plow, all new equipment the city had to buy as its rapid growth continues; Greenwood adds about 1,000 new residents a year. The city expects to bring in about $3.4 million in revenue.</p><p>The rate increases would generate an additional $200,000 a year, city documents said.</p><p>“I still feel there is an element of unfairness, and my take on it is the same (as it was),” Bates said.</p><p>During the last council member, Bates explained why he would vote against the rate increase.</p><p>He said it doesn’t take into consideration seniors, many of whom are on tight budgets, or recent housing developments.</p><p>“It would take years for these (homeowners) to utilize leaf and limb pickup,” Bates said Jan. 21. “Why do these residents have to pay for a service that they do not need?”</p><p>Bates suggested the city allow homeowners to arrange their own trash service, which would create competition and keep the costs down, which other council members argued is not the case.</p>
