FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO):  The price you pay for your trash collection each month is going up, but Fort Wayne City Council members say they are hoping to delay the rake hike using federal dollars.  On Tuesday, a solid waste resolution was introduced to City Council. The resolution calls for the city to use a portion of its roughly $51 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to pay eligible Solid Waste Department expenses. City Council is proposing that $10 million of the funds be used to help delay an increase in the solid waste rate. According to our partners in news at ABC21, the resolution passed with a 6-1 vote Tuesday night and will be discussed at next weeks meeting.

The ordinance seeks to increase the monthly single-family residential household fee by $3.60–from $12 to $15.60 beginning July 1, 2023. The full rate adjustment would go into effect on January 1, 2024. Officials say it would include a fully adjusted rate of $18.60 plus an annual change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, an additional one percent to ensure the ongoing viability of the City’s Solid Waste Fund, and potentially another multiplier based on variances in the Consumer Price Index in the last six months of 2023.