Streator garbage bill to go up $5 per month beginning in May

The portion of the garbage and sewer bill for Streator residents paying for garbage will increase by $5 per month beginning in May.

The Streator City Council voted Wednesday in favor of the increase to $28 per month from $23 per month for garbage. The fee then will increase by 4% in each of the next four years. By 2029, the monthly fee for garbage services will be $32.75.

The City Council recently approved a five-year contract to retain Waste Management as its garbage hauler.

The current monthly fee of $23 was set in 2018 and is not sufficient to cover Waste Management’s increased charges and the city’s costs to bill for the program, Streator City Manager David Plyman said.

“With these increases, the city’s solid waste fund should essentially break even over the five-year contract,” Plyman said.

Plyman said that in comparison, if the city had gone with the next highest bidder in Republic Services, it would have had to increase the garbage portion of bills to $34 per month.

Waste Management provides recycling bins, curbside pickup for large items, electronic waste pickup and yard waste collection.