> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bsquarebulletin.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bloomington garbage headline: City cart fees could climb nearly 50% by 2029 - URL: https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-garbage-headline-city-cart-fees-could-climb-nearly-50-by-2029/ - Published: 2026-11-15T12:57:03.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-15T12:57:03.000Z - Description: Bloomington’s city council will consider a proposal Wednesday (Nov. 18) to raise monthly trash collection fees each year through 2029. The fee for a medium-sized cart would climb from $16.97 to $25.13, over the time period, an increase of 48%. - Author: Dave Askins - Tags: Local Government, #no-inline-feature ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/06/for-column-featured-trash-recycling-Screen-Shot-2022-09-30-at-2.03.25-PM-1.jpg) B Square file photos of Bloomington trash and recycling carts. A proposal to increase Bloomington’s monthly trash collection fees every year through 2029 is on the [city council’s agenda](https://bloomington.in.gov/onboard/meetingFiles/17764/download#page=160) for initial consideration next Wednesday (Nov. 18). But the title of the ordinance barely gives hint of the big increase in rates for all three of the city’s trash cart sizes: “Amending Title 6 of the Bloomington Municipal Code to update fees and billing and define new requirements.” Missing from the ordinance title that’s listed on the agenda are words like “trash,” “garbage,” “sanitation” and “increase.” The B Square has [asked city councilmembers and the mayor](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2026-11-14-email-to-Adam-Wason-revised.pdf ) to ensure that the title is revised before the ordinance is introduced. Bloomington’s curbside service includes weekly pickup for both trash and recyling carts. There is not a separate fee for recycling carts, but the budget analysis for subsidies assumes that trash cart fees cover the cost of running separate recycling routes, too. Under the new proposal, the monthly fee for a 64-gallon trash cart (medium size) would climb from $16.97 this year to $19.40 in 2027\. Under current law, the rates were scheduled to increase by just 3% each year. For 2027, a 64-gallon cart would have automatically increased to $17.48, instead of the proposed $19.40. Under the proposal, the medium size cart cost would increase to $22.64 in 2028, and $25.13 in 2029\. The increases for the other two cart sizes follow a similar pattern. The idea is to make the curbside collection service self-sustaining through fees. The proposed increases are intended to eliminate a $1.6-million annual general-fund subsidy over three years, as the city faces rising expenses for labor, fuel, equipment and recycling collection. The plan would reduce the subsidy by $600,000 in each of the first two years and $400,000 in 2029\. The general fund would still be charged separately for waste collection at municipal facilities and public spaces. The budget adopted by the city council for 2027 assumes the additional $600,000 in revenue from the proposed rate increase. The proposed rates appear in the Nov. 18 council [meeting information packet](https://bloomington.in.gov/onboard/meetingFiles/17764/download#page=160), which was released late in the day on Nov. 13\. The figures below also include rates under the the [most recent ordinance on trash fees](https://bloomington.in.gov/onboard/legislationFiles/5766) which was adopted in 2023. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/11/2026-11-14-trash-rate-piece-Screenshot-2026-11-14-at-7.10.38---PM.png) Chart by The B Square with figures from the city of Bloomington. Bloomington monthly trash cart fees, 2023–2029 Monthly charge; smaller number is year-over-year percentage change. Year 35 gal. 64 gal. 96 gal. 2023 $6.51 — $11.61 — $18.52 — 2024 $8.75 +34.4% $16.00 +37.8% $24.00 +29.6% 2025 $9.01 +3.0% $16.48 +3.0% $24.72 +3.0% 2026 $9.28 +3.0% $16.97 +3.0% $25.46 +3.0% 2027 $10.72 +15.5% $19.40 +14.3% $29.10 +14.3% 2028 $12.51 +16.7% $22.64 +16.7% $33.96 +16.7% 2029 $13.89 +11.0% $25.13 +11.0% $37.70 +11.0% 2027–2029 rates are proposed, not adopted. The 2025 rates took effect in October rather than January because the city [mistakenly delayed implementing that year's 3% increase until October](https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomington-trash-cart-customers-get-accidental-3-discount-city-loses-48k-so-far/). Percentages are calculated from the monthly rates shown. The proposed 2027 percentage increase is larger for the smallest cart. But the difference appears that it might originate from an incorrect 2026 rate in the [staff memo dated Oct. 23](https://bloomington.in.gov/onboard/meetingFiles/17764/download#page=183). The memo gives the following figures for current rates and the automatic 3% increase already required for 2027: Rates as printed in the October 2026 staff memo Rates by cart size, with the disputed figure marked by an asterisk. Year 35 gal. 64 gal. 96 gal. 2026 monthly $9.38\* $16.97 $25.46 2027 monthly $9.66 $17.48 $26.22 2027 annual $115.92 $209.76 $314.64 \* The $9.38 figure does not match the amount calculated under the ordinance passed in 2023 or the current $9.28 rate published on the city's sanitation webpage (https://bloomington.in.gov/sanitation). The 2023 ordinance established an $8.75 monthly fee for the 35-gallon cart in 2024, with automatic 3% annual increases starting in 2025\. That works out to $9.28 in 2026 and $9.56 in 2027, not the $9.38 and $9.66 figures in the staff memo. Using the correct 2027 baseline of $9.56, the proposed $10.72 fee represents a bigger increase of 12.1% for the 35-gallon carts, compared with about 11% for the two larger carts. Applying an 11% increase to the correct baseline would produce a fee of $10.61 for the 35-gallon carts, or 11 cents less than proposed. The question of general-fund support for sanitation services is not new. It stems in part from the fact that trash service is not provided to every building inside city limits. Under [Bloomington’s sanitation law](https://library.municode.com/in/bloomington/codes/code%5Fof%5Fordinances?nodeId=TIT6HESA%5FCH6.04SOWAREYAWACOCI%5F6.04.080GECOPRGU ), city trash and recycling collection is generally provided only to residential buildings with four or fewer units, while larger buildings must arrange for private collection. That’s even though residents of both types of buildings contribute taxes to the city’s general fund. During the [2023 budget discussions](https://bsquarebulletin.com/2023-bloomington-budget-notebook-trash-talk-cart-fees-general-fund/) some councilmembers argued that taxpayers living in larger apartment buildings were helping to subsidize city trash collection provided only to buildings with four or fewer units. Others defended sanitation as a service benefiting the entire city. That equity argument remains part of the discussion, but the [financial pressures ](https://bsquarebulletin.com/bloomingtons-trash-cart-rate-hikes-up-for-discussion-based-on-alarming-numbers/)detailed earlier this year have added urgency. The new proposal would also increase fees for yard waste, large items and appliances, and authorize the board of public works to adjust sanitation rates within 10% of the ordinance's specified amounts. Wednesday’s (Nov. 18) initial consideration by the city council is not expected to result in enactment. It would require unanimous support for enacting it at the same meeting when it is introduced.