Bettendorf residents will see a two-percent increase in their solid waste fees over the next couple of months.
Finance Director Jason Schadt says the average resident’s bill will go up about $4 over the year, for residents using a 65-gallon cart.
In 2022, the city started to phase out its 32-gallon cart. Schadt explains that the decision is to save money.
"Actually, replacing those carts is more expensive per cart than buying the 65 gallons," Schadt said "As time has gone on, we've seen less and less people utilizing the smaller cart. So it was just a cost-effective change for us to just kind of eliminate that as an option."
Residents still using a 32-gallon cart can exchange it for a 65-gallon or a 95-gallon cart for $25. If the resident loses their 32-gallon cart or moves, the city will replace it with the 65-gallon cart.
Schadt also noted a $0.22 increase in the sanitary sewer rate. The additional funding will go towards the Spencer Creek lift station project and help pay for improvements at the wastewater treatment plant in Davenport. Bettendorf shares the plant with Panorama Park, Riverdale, and Davenport.
"So the city, Bettendorf's share of that $30 million is somewhere around $6 or $7 million," Schadt said. "Things like digester replacements, bar screen replacements, these are critical to the operation of the wastewater treatment plant and pretty important to all of us that utilize the sewer system."
He adds that the rate increase is necessary to keep critical services intact.
"It's not something that we think about every day. It's easy to kind of take for granted when we flush our toilets or drain our bathtubs, you know, that wastewater disappears," Schadt said. "But there's a really important system at work, and it's important that we keep it maintained. And unfortunately, it costs a little bit of money to do that."
The rate increase took effect on April 1st. Schadt says the city bills quarterly, so most residents will not see an increase until late June.
