The City of Valparaiso established a committee to review current trash and recycling services. The goal of the committee was to “Recommend a trash & recycling fee that is reasonable to the community in order to sustain the solid waste activities and services by the Valparaiso City Services Public Works Department”. The strategies determining the most strategic approaches for reviewing refuse/garbage collection user fees required thoughtful planning and consideration. This included a combination of a reevaluation of current customer user fees, operational improvements and regulatory review. The committee conducted the following strategies in order to achieve their goal:
1. Financial analysis to determine the cost of providing refuse/garbage and recycling services to the City of Valparaiso. 2. Discussion and/or interviews with neighboring communities regarding their refuse/garbage and recycling operations. 3. Internal audit of the refuse/garbage and recycling operations of the VCS Public Works Division. 4. Evaluation of current City Ordinance rules and regulations. 5. Develop final fee schedule for refuse/garbage and recycling services.
Valparaiso City Services provided a formal public presentation at the August 22, 2022 Council meeting with a second formal presentation, public hearing and final vote at the September 12, 2022 Council meeting.