Trash collection now costs residents $10 a month

A new year begins today and with it a new $10-a-month trash fee for Virginia Beach homeowners.

The fee, passed by the City Council earlier this year, is expected to generate $14.5 million annually. That is about 40 percent of the service's cost.

"The new fee does not cover nearly all of the costs for the service, but it does help to defray part of the cost," said Phil Davenport, interim director of the city's Public Works Department.

The charge is necessary, Davenport added, because a previous long-term fee arrangement the city had with the Southeastern Public Service Authority expires in 2016. That agreement capped Virginia Beach trash disposal rates at $65.35 to get rid of each ton of homeowners' garbage. Other localities pay $145 per ton.

The city estimates its lower rate has saved it more than $10 million a year.

But soon, that no longer will be the case. The new rate will increase substantially after the current cap expires. That's the reason, Davenport said, the city implemented the new trash fee.

"The agreement held our disposal costs to much lower rates than what our neighboring cities are paying," Davenport said, referring to the contract that dates back to 1984. "But it expires in 2016 and we will be paying rates similar to what the other cities are seeing."

Suffolk also is implementing a first-time trash fee this month and will begin charging homeowners $18.50 for the service. Currently, Portsmouth homeowners pay $37.52 a month for trash removal and Norfolk homeowners pay about $27.

Chesapeake is the only remaining South Hampton Roads city that does not charge a separate trash fee.

With the city's waste disposal costs set to increase soon, Davenport said Virginia Beach needed to implement a fee now to offset future expenses associated with the service. Since the new fee will only cover a portion of the costs, the remaining costs will continue to be paid for by the city's general fund.

"Starting in 2016, our disposal costs are going to increase in the neighborhood of about $7 million a year," Davenport said, adding that 100 percent of the fee will be put into a special fund that will be used for waste collection services. "It becomes part of our budget planning for the future."

Earmarking the funding, Davenport said, was a requirement imposed by the City Council.

Homeowners will not receive a separate bill for the service. Instead, they will see a new line item on their city water, sanitary sewer and stormwater statement. The $10-a-month fee will be listed as a solid waste collection fee.

"The first bill that includes the fee will go out in January or February so, depending on where people are in the billing cycle, if it goes out in early January, they may only have a few dollars. If it's late February, then it may be almost $20," Davenport said, explaining the staggered initial fees people may see on their city utility bills, which come out every two months.

The second bills, which will go out in March and April, will be for the full $20 amount for two months.

The new fee will apply to about 123,000 Virginia Beach households who receive the waste collection services.

Rita Frankenberry, rita.frankenberry@pilotonline.com