Houston weighs adding a solid waste fee

As recycling complaints with Houston’s solid waste operations spiking and the department losing 30 workers, Houston city leaders are considering an option to add a fee to support waste collection service, KHOU-11 reports.

Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department went through a leadership change in March, when former Director Mark Wilfalk resigned and Larius Hassen took over as interim director. Since that time, solid waste complaints are up across the board, the Houston Chronicle reports.

According to the city’s 311 data, in June, the department recorded a peak 8,068 complaints for missed recycling pickups and 3,348 for missed garbage pickup, the Chronicle reports.

At a recent City Council meeting, Hassen shared details of what has impacted service at the department. He explains that the department lost 30 staff members after recent retirement buyout plans offered by the Whitmire administration, and that issue has been compounded with aging routing software, an aging fleet and only one location for trucks to drop off recycling waste for processing.

City council members noted more support is needed for the department, including a potential solid waste fee.

“Every neighboring city has a trash fee,” District I Council Member Joaquin Martinez said at a council meeting. “I think we all know that that needs to be looked at.”

Houston is an outlier among major Texas cities in the state for not having a solid waste fee, according to the report. Funding for the Solid Waste Management department comes out of the city’s general fund balance, while Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have fees ranging from about $14 to $38.

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Hassen tells KHOU 11 that a solid waste fee is “going to have to come in sooner or later,” but that for now he is focused on an overhaul of the department.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire has signaled discussions over a fee would likely be part of next year’s city budget planning, the report says. Whitmire has said multiple times he wants to first address efficiencies in departments citywide before exploring ways to generate revenue for improving city services.

Last year, the Houston City Council commissioned a study to look at ways to improve solid waste management, including the potential impact of a fee. The results of that study will be reviewed by the department before the department briefs the mayor on the findings, according to KHOU-11.