Oct. 27, 2019 1p
(WGTD)---The need to change the way the Kenosha collects garbage and recyclables is putting pressure on the city’s capital improvement budget.
Mayor John Antaramian is proposing that the city borrow over $7 million next year to buy 64,000 garbage and recycling carts for distribution to city residents. The plan also calls for the purchase of 14 new garbage trucks with automated arms to pick up the containers.
Kenosha is currently paying extra to its recycling company because the city is one of just a few municipalities in the state that still uses the blue bag system. Because markets for recyclables in recent months have plummeted, recycling companies don’t want to pay the added costs of dealing with the bags. The proposed $7 million expenditure is part of the city’s capital improvement program.
Antaramian’s proposed borrowing and operating budgets for next year were posted on the city’s website this past week. In the coming weeks, city council committees are expected to review various aspects of the plans. Adoption is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 4th.
The budget documents note there’s an upside to switching to the new garbage and recycling system. The city is expected to save nearly $1 million annually in reduced fuel, personnel, maintenance and recycling costs.
Still, the $7 million dollar-plus cost in the mayor’s budget would help push city borrowing from a little over $16 million this year to over $24 million next year. Borrowing over the following four years would drop dramatically to between $12 and $14 million.
Other budget highlights include spending money on flood and erosion control. A $5 million project to beef up Lake Michigan shoreline protection in Southport Park east of the sewage treatment plant would be paid for primarily through utility and storm water fees. Another $3 million would go toward continued implementation of a plan designed to reduce the potential for flooding in some neighborhoods.
The proposed tax levy for city purposes would go up next year by 2.85%.
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