Cheyenne Mayor Supports Proposed Trash Fee Increase

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen says he supports a proposed 8 percent increase in city trash fees.

The mayor says while he knows the increase is ''a significant amount.'' He thinks it is needed to keep the city's solid waste operations viable for the future.

The mayor notes a consultant hired by the city several years ago to study Cheyenne's solid waste operations said an 8 percent per year increase would be needed annually for each of the next five years.

Kaysen said Thursday the city needs to expand the Happy Jack Landfill, noting it is currently costing the city $1 million annually to send trash to Ault, Colo.

Kaysen says that while the landfill expansion will cost money over the short-term, it will save money in the future. He says another expense is the expansion of the Solid Waste Transfer Station, which he says will likewise cost money over the short-term but pay off down the road.

City Councilman Dicky Shanor said recently that while he thinks some kind of fee increase is needed, an argument could be made for the hike being any number between 6 and 10 percent.

The City Council Finance Committee is slated to take up the fee increase at its meeting on Monday. The proposal will then go before the full city council for a final decision at it's next regular meeting on May 23.

The new fees will take effect on July 1.