Milan Council Considers Water, Garbage Rate Increases

Milan City is proposing water and garbage rate increases for the next fiscal year, while keeping the rates for sewer the same.

In a presentation to the council on April 7, City Manager Jim Lancaster recommended raising water rates to $5.84 from $5.22 per unit each month. A unit equals 1,000 gallons of water. 

Sewer is billed off the water usage and the rate would stay the same. 

Garbage would increase 5 percent from $23.57 to $24.77 per unit.

“Nobody likes rate increases,” Lancaster said, “but unfortunately as we try to mitigate the issues with inflation and everything else going up, we have to maintain the system as best as possible.”

Garbage Services

Mayor Ed Kolar said he has had some city residents report problems with Stevens. However, Kolar said Stevens has done a great job keeping prices down, despite inflation, and he is hoping the problems can be worked through.

Lancaster said the city will enter its third year of a five-year contract with Stevens on July 1. Over that five years, the city will spend approximately $2.4 million for garbage pickup from Stevens. He said Priority, the only other company to bid on the job, would have charged about $3 million, costing the city nearly $565,000 more over five years.

“We’ve got to work through some of their stuff,” Kolar said. “Overall, I’m happy with Stevens. The alternative, if we get rid of Stevens, prices are going up significantly.”