The City Commission is holding a series of public forums to hear discussion on the garbage fee. Everyone is strongly to encourage to attend one of the following meetings and offer their input:

April 12th (Tuesday) at 6:30 pm / Bondurant Middle School (1 Bondurant Dr.)
April 14th (Thursday) at 6:30 pm / Memorial Baptist Church (130 Holmes St.)
April 16th (Saturday) at 9:30 am / Cooperative Extension Office (103 Lakeview Ct.)

We’re asking for the public’s input on how we can fund garbage collection while maintaining a balanced budget. As many of you know, the current fee is actually based on property ownership rather than garbage collection and doesn’t even come close to funding our garbage program.

The options that we’re aware of are:
1) Get rid of the fee altogether, and then substantially raise taxes to compensate.
2) Charge a flat fee that covers the cost of garbage collection, and then substantially lower taxes to compensate.
3) Charge a fee based on the amount of trash produced that covers the cost of garbage collection, and then substantially lower taxes to compensate.
4) Stop collecting garbage altogether and require citizens to contract with a private company.
5) Keep the current system.

There are pros and cons to each option, and we’re looking forward to a healthy and informative discussion. Recycling will remain free under most (if not all) of these scenarios. Please come share your thoughts!