The city of Kent’s garbage taxes on residents and businesses will jump to 18.3 percent from 7.8 percent under a proposal approved by a City Council committee.
The Public Works Committee voted 2-0 on Monday to recommend the full seven-member council approve the tax increase to help pay for about $3 million of street maintenance projects per year. Council President Dana Ralph and Councilwoman Brenda Fincher voted to approve the tax jump. The council will consider the proposal on Oct. 21.
Despite the proposed jump in taxes for next year, city staff told the committee Kent would still have some of the lowest rates around for single-family residents who now pay $17.04 per month for garbage, recycling and yard waste service. The new rate would be $20.75 per month for a customer who has a 32-gallon weekly garbage pickup and up to a 96-gallon recycling and 96-gallon yard waste containers every other week.
“This keeps us still below most of the other jurisdictions surrounding Kent except for Tukwila ($19.13 per month),” said Kelly Peterson, Public Works special projects manager.
The council asked city staff for proposals about how to raise more money for street repairs. Kent has about 26,000 garbage customers served by Republic Services. About 24,000 of those are residential customers. City officials rationalize the tax increase because of the damage garbage and recycling trucks cause to roads.
“The heaviest vehicle on residential streets in almost all cases is the garbage truck and with the added recycling that we’re seeing in the last decades the residential street now sees two trucks as opposed to one,” said Public Works Director Tim LaPorte.
LaPorte said there are 15 to 16 neighborhoods all over town where streets need fixing because of cracking. He said most need asphalt overlay to smooth out the streets.
City officials would use 10.5 percent of the 18.3 percent tax for street maintenance, 6.5 percent to the general fund, 1 percent to street improvement programs and 0.3 percent to youth/teen programs. The other uses form the current 7.8 percent tax rate.
Mayor Suzette Cooke proposed a $20 vehicle license fee per year in her preliminary budget to raise money for street maintenance, an estimated $1.6 million per year starting in 2016.
Councilman Dennis Higgins asked Cooke during her budget proposal last month her stand about the solid waste utility tax since her report didn’t address the issue.
“I am recommending the $20 vehicle fee and I am recommending the waste utility fee,” Cooke said. “It was not included in this budget because your discussions on this were occurring when we were putting this budget together…. The list of projects will simply be better attended to with the additional (garbage tax) funding. We chose not to include it because we weren’t certain of the (council’s) direction, it was not meant to mean I do not support it.”
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