Proposed plan aims to salvage Houston’s “significantly underfunded” solid waste department

A long-term plan is in the works for Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department that would recommend a service fee of $20 to $25 a month for residential garbage collection.

As reported by the Houston Chronicle, the idea—which has been pushed in some quarters at City Hall for decades—would add another bill to resident’s budgets. However, the plan’s authors say it is necessary to “right-size” the department, as it has fewer resources and employees than other, smaller cities in the state.

Houston is the only major city in Texas that does not charge a separate fee for garbage collection, opting instead to pay for it out of its tax-supported general fund.

The 163-page draft plan says the department has a budget of about $89 million, which it argues is about $20 to $40 million less than what it needs. The average annual budget in the state’s other four large cities, which have fewer households, is $105.9 million.

A garbage fee, along with a proposed $5 environmental fee, could raise more than $100 million per year for a dedicated enterprise fund and correct “significant underfunding,” the plan says. The money would help the department hire more workers, buy new vehicles and improve service.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the city’s Solid Waste Department has been beleaguered by an aging fleet and service delays the last couple years. This year, it has struggled to collect heavy trash on time amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and high staff turnover has led new, less experienced workers inadvertently to crush garbage bins at a high clip, leading to an emergency request for more money to buy new cans.

“The [task force] was unanimous in its agreement that the city needs an enterprise fund paid for with service fees to pay for solid waste services,” the draft master plan says.

A team of five consulting firms wrote the 2020 plan with the help of a 19-person task force. The Solid Waste Department developed a public survey that is open until the end of October. It held four virtual public meetings this month, as well. A final draft incorporating those comments is slated to reach city council early next year, Hayes said.

The plan addresses other critical challenges the department faces, from an aging fleet to landfill capacity. The city relies on private landfills for waste disposal, and most of them are expected to be full by 2040. The plan calls for the city to begin scouting locations where it could build its own landfill.

“It’s looking at what Houston is doing and should be doing to have a healthy and vibrant city,” Hayes said. “This plan is not bringing to to bear anything that has not been studied and or touched upon in previous plans.”