Wildwood residents and businesses will face higher garbage collection costs under a five-year contract extension with Waste Management, which is based in the city.
Residents will pay $19.98 monthly beginning Oct. 1 in the last year of the company’s current contract. The fee will rise to $21.25 in October 2024.
After that, general manager Doug McCoy said fees will resume their connection to increases in the consumer price index, currently at 1.8 percent a year.
McCoy said the company needs to raise the maximum allowed annual increases to 6 percent from the current ceiling of 4 percent.
Fees for businesses will go up to $6.33 per cubic yard from the current $4.03 by 2025. The cost of dumpster roll off collections will rise to $340.80 per haul plus disposal from the current $332.16.
McCoy said commercial rates have risen an average of 1.1 percent per year since Waste Management began providing the Wildwood service in 2010.
“I’ve had very few complaints since Waste Management began picking up the refuse,” said Mayor Ed Wolf.
The city used to provide its own garbage collection.
McCoy said higher costs are driving the increases.
Wages for drivers and technicians are up 25 percent due to the need to recruit employees and fuel costs have risen 62 percent year over year. Higher steel costs boosted the price of collection vehicles by 30 percent. The cost of plastic 65-gallon carts is 51 percent higher while front-load containers cost 88 percent more.
Despite the increases, McCoy said Wildwood’s rates will remain less expensive than nearby cities.
In Fruitland Park, residents pay $31.80 monthly for garbage collection and commercial dumpster rates are $9.27 per cubic yard.