Written with the help of AI from the ordinance and Public Works memo in the Oct. 28 City Commission agenda packet.
Dayton is replacing its two trash charges with one: a waste disposal fee of $17.21 a month for each city trash container, billed on the property owner’s city utility bill. The City Commission passed the change unanimously on Oct. 28, as an emergency so it takes effect right away.
What changes
Until now the city charged two separate fees for trash service: an annual waste container fee, paid in quarterly installments, and a separate monthly waste collection and disposal fee. The new ordinance repeals the container fee and folds everything into the single monthly charge. It covers weekly pickup and disposal from a city-provided container, or a similar amount of trash in a container the city approves.
In a memo to the city manager, Public Works Director Thomas J. Ritchie Jr. said the timing was meant to give the Finance Department time to update the billing system for the start of the new year.
Who pays, and for how many containers
The fee is per container. Every residence and business the city serves must have its own container or containers. Under the ordinance, a “residence” is each apartment unit and each part of a house with its own kitchen, bath and sleeping room, so a duplex owner pays for each unit’s container.
The bill goes to the property owner. Landlords can require tenants to pay it by agreement, but if a tenant doesn’t pay, the owner is still responsible. Recycling containers aren’t covered by the fee, and owners can contract with the city for extra or more frequent pickup.
How it will rise
The fee can go up each year, as before, but the ordinance changes what the increase is tied to. It used to follow the Consumer Price Index, a measure of general inflation. It will now follow the Employment Cost Index for state and local government workers, which tracks wages and benefits. The Public Works director can raise the fee by no more than that index’s yearly change.
Ritchie’s memo said the switch better matches the cost of the service, since personnel costs make up most of what the city spends on trash collection.
What it means for landlords and owners of multi-unit buildings
Because the fee is per container and every unit needs its own, owners of duplexes and small apartment buildings will see the charge multiplied by the number of units the city serves. Owners who pass trash costs to tenants should check their leases, since the ordinance keeps the owner on the hook if a tenant falls behind.
Questions about a specific bill go to the City of Dayton’s utility billing office. The ordinance and the Public Works memo are in the Oct. 28 City Commission agenda packet. More from that meeting: Dayton City Commission, Oct. 28.
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