The Evansville Water & Sewer Utility passed a resolution Tuesday supporting an increase in the fees city residents pay to have their trash collected.

Under a current proposal, monthly trash fees would rise by $3.70 to $13.65. The charge is now $9.95.

The additional money brought in would help the city pay for costs included in a contract being negotiated with Republic Services Inc., which recently bought Allied Waste, the former trash collector for the city.

The Evansville City Council will consider the plan when it meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in Room 301 of the Civic Center.

The city now pays Republic about $408,000 a month on average to collect trash, yard waste and recyclable materials. Local officials say they aren't thinking about canceling any of those services.

But with the cost of collection driven up by increased fuel costs, the company says the amount the city pays is no longer enough to cover costs.

Along with increasing compensation to Republic, the proposed higher fees would pay for a number of changes in collection practices, meant to keep the cost of the service from rising even higher.

If city officials have their way, residents will replace the cans and bins they previously had used for trash and recyclable materials with two 96-gallon containers beginning next year.

Rather than along alleys, where some trash now is placed for pick up, the large containers would be set near the street. Mechanical arms on trucks will empty them without the help of a person, thus reducing labor costs.

In a final change, collection workers will no longer sort recyclable materials at the curb. They instead will take that refuse to Tri-State Resource Recovery, which will do that work at its site at 135 S. Garvin St.

The savings brought about by the changes aren't likely to appear in the short run. For them to take effect, though, Republic must make some substantial investments in coming months. It plans to buy the needed equipment, such as new containers and trucks, and pay for it using the extra money collected from the city.

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