Recycling industry market, rising fuel costs spur city’s first rate hike in 10 years  

Marysville garbage and recycling customers are likely to see higher bills starting in May. The proposed rate increase, the first since 2012, would cost most residential customers $30.25 more each bi-monthly billing cycle, or $15.125 more per month. 

Why? The City of Marysville contracts with Waste Management to provide mandatory recycling service and optional yard waste service for City of Marysville residents. The current contract ended on Aug. 31, 2021. Due to the global climate of recycling, our new contract with Waste Management that took effect in September 2021 costs significantly more. Since then, the city has been absorbing the cost increase, eroding the city’s reserve fund. We can no longer absorb this cost as it could affect available funding to replace garbage trucks and continue to deliver solid waste services in the future.

Increased fuel costs for both the city (which collects garbage) and Waste Management (which collects recycling and yard waste) also factor into the proposed rate increase. The City Council will consider the proposal at its April 11 meeting that begins at 7 p.m. at Marysville City Hall, 1049 State Ave. 

Ways that customers can reduce their billing charges include changing to a smaller size can, discontinuing optional yard waste service, and/or changing garbage collection frequency from weekly to monthly. Learn more at https://www.marysvillewa.gov/1208/Rate-Increase.