Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

During annual budget discussions, the LaGrange City Council discussed a moderate increase to trash pickup services as well as charging nonprofits for it.

The City of LaGrange is proposing a moderate increase in sanitation rates. According to City Manager Patrick Bowie, an average increase of 3.8 percent is needed to maintain a steady level of funds in the Sanitation Fund. 

Even with the increase, the net income for the enterprise is expected to be negative by about $330,000 due to the impact of depreciation. The proposed increase would mitigate the loss by about $120,000 per year.

Customers with 68-gallon cans would see a monthly increase of $1.20. The monthly rate for the smaller cans is currently $22.30. The proposed increase would bring it to $23.50 per month. Larger cans, currently at $25.65, would go up to $26.50, an increase of 85 cents per month. Premium service (backdoor pickup), currently at $40.14, would increase by $1.86 per month, to $42.

Commercial pickup, which the city has mostly dropped, would increase by $1.51 for regular pickup and $2.51 for premium.

The biggest change would be for nonprofits, which currently don’t pay the city for sanitation services.

Bowie suggested charging nonprofits $5 for monthly sanitation service.

“Nonprofits currently are not paying anything. I propose making it $5, just so they have some skin in the game,” Bowie said.

It’s still practically giving it to them, but it would give them a little bit of an incentive to limit their trash, he explained.

Councilman Nathan Gaskin suggested that $5 wasn’t enough.

“Every church is a nonprofit. I know for a fact that there are over 100 Baptist churches. So do the math. You should be charging them at least for the price of the can,” Gaskin said. “If you break it down, we should be charging at least the cost of the can in the year.”

Mayor Jim Arrington explained that $8-9 per month would pay for the cost of the can in a year, which is around $100, but suggested leaving it the way it is.

Similarly, Councilman Leon Childs recommended forgoing the charge for churches and nonprofits, saying they provide services that help get kids off the streets.

Bowie reminded that it’s not just churches that the city doesn’t charge for sanitation, it’s all nonprofits.

“We’re not really [suggesting] it for the money … I just hate giving anything away,” Bowie said, reminding that the sanitation fund is not making any money, nor is it transferring any funds to the general account.

Councilwoman Darby Pippin suggested charging more for premium service rather than charging nonprofits. People are paying $4 extra per week for someone to come up their driveway to pick up their trash rather than having to bring it to the road, she said, explaining that she believes people would be willing to pay more for the service.

“They’re coming up the driveway four times a month for $4 [per week],” Pippin said. “That’s the best deal going.”

“The people that are going to pay for it will pay more for it,” Pippin said. “If we’re going to increase and charge churches and nonprofits $5 to $10, then I think we can pick up a little bit extra on the premiums.”

Arrington and Pippin said the only concern was the number of elderly people who receive the backdoor service.

Bowie explained that people with legitimate needs, like the elderly or disabled, do not have to pay for backdoor service.

Even with the increase, LaGrange would remain less expensive than other nearby areas. Unincorporated Troup County currently pays $28.50 for garbage with no yard waste pickup and backdoor service is $38.50. Newnan residents pay $34.03 for garbage pickup, including yard waste, with $51.38 backyard pickup.