Fort Worth city council members reviewed a number of proposed increases for next fiscal year during a meeting Friday morning, including a possible 20% increase to residents’ solid waste bills.<\/p>\n
According to the presentation, the average monthly charge would increase from $25.75 to about $30.90. For a whole year, the average family could pay more than $60 extra, increasing from $309 to about $370.80.<\/p>\n
The presentation states the need for this increase is to build more fund balance for long-range capital needs and to keep closing the gap<\/a> for the cost of services.<\/p>\n Residents can make their voices heard about the proposed budget at a series of town halls that will be held through Sept. 3. Click here<\/a> for a list of all the upcoming town halls.\u00a0Each meeting will include a short presentation followed by a question-and-answer session, according to the city. The meetings will also be livestreamed on\u00a0the city’s website\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other proposed increases could see slight rises in property taxes, stormwater fees, water and wastewater charges, plus a potential 11% increase to environmental fees, from about $27 a year for a household to about $30 a year. The reason given for this increase would be to add an extra UpSpire Crew, two more street sweepers and capital investments to expand the city’s cleanup operations.<\/p>\n