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To cover a $1.34 million shortfall in the City of Las Cruces solid-waste utility’s ability to maintain its level of service, the Las Cruces City Council unanimously voted to increase the fee for monthly residential solid-waste service by $2, to $15.25 for a 96-gallon container.
The new rate should take effect in about a month, city officials said at the July 20 council meeting.
The current monthly cost of $13.25 can be maintained by residential customers if they opt for a smaller, 64-gallon container, the city said. The city also has a utility-assistance fund to help residents who cannot afford to pay their utility bills. Visit www.las-cruces.org/1961/Utilities-Billing-and-Receivables.
“This is something we have to do,” said Councilor Gill Sorg, a long-time member of the Las Cruces Utilities Board (LCU board).
The solid waste shortfall includes nearly $650,000 to purchase new vehicles, according to city documents.
The city’s Utility Customer Advisory Group (UCAG) conducted 12 community conversations about the proposed rate increase beginning in September 2019, with a total of 41 people attending, according to city documents. Last Dec. 11, UCAG voted to recommend the rate increase, which was approved that same month by the LCU board.
The resolution also includes a “wide range of commercial solid waste rate changes.” Commercial increases include an increase of .20 from $27.80 to $28 for a 96-gallon container and an increase from $55.60 to $60 per month for two 96-gallon containers. There will also be increases for commercial cubic-yard containers and compactors.
The solid-waste utility’s operating cost was $14.4 million in FY2018, according to city documents.
In other actions at the July 20 meeting, the council voted unanimously to name the city’s production studio the Udell F. Vigil Production Studio, to honor Vigil, who retired earlier this year as the city’s communications director. Vigil joined the city as public information officer in January 2001.
The council voted 5-2 to table until Aug. 17 a proposed resolution that would update fees and charges for services provided by the city’s Community Development Department (CDD). The council will hold an Aug. 11 work session on the proposed resolution, which would create a new fee schedule that “establishes a standardized approach to assessing building fees and charges that encourages usage/participation, enables a reasonable degree of cost recovery and reduces the burden on the general fund for construction-related regulation,” according to city documents.
If approved, the new fee schedule would allow CDD to address a budget deficit of almost $1.2 million.
