The Meridian City Council is weighing the cost of a consultant with the potential savings on garbage contracts down the road.

In a work session Tuesday, the council heard from Scott Phillips of Waggoner Engineering about an additional task order to help complete the city’s garbage contract process. The city previously approved two task orders with Waggoner for Phillips’ help advertising for garbage service and reviewing the bids that were submitted.

The third task order, which would cost the city $55,000, Phillips said, would include contract negotiations between the garbage providers and the city, assisting with an accurate house count and helping get the city set up to maintain an accurate number of residents receiving garbage service.

In June, the council approved a residential garbage pickup contract with Waste Pro at a cost of $18.58 per residence per month.

Prior to the service beginning Oct. 1, the city and Waste Pro are working to develop an accurate number of residences receiving garbage service.

Previous house counts show about 12,150 homes have garbage pickup; however, that figure is at least six years old. Phillips and the council have previously said they expect that number to decrease in thenew count.

A reduction in the number of homes translates to lower costs for the city, which pays Waste Pro for the garbage service and recoups the cost from residents through garbage bills.

Once the new count is complete, Phillips said, the city will need to work to maintain the data. Part of the task order, he said, would be to help the city put processes in place to track when residents leave or new people move in.

“As Community Development does permits, as Public Works does water meters, then you’ll start learning how to take a house off, turn a house on,” he said. “Then at the end of the year, you’ll have a count.”

Phillips said the city would also need to work on educating residents about what can be put out on the curb for pickup and where it should be placed so the garbage trucks don’t miss it.

“We need a better education program to help people know where to put things so it will get picked up for them,” he said.

Budget hearings 

In other business, the council is holding budget hearings for the upcoming 2023 fiscal year. After the work session Tuesday, the city heard from Meridian Police Department and Meridian Fire Department about their budget requests.

The city council will meet with the heads of each department to understand the needs of each department prior to making a final budget for the next year. Initial revenue estimates showed the city can expect to bring in about $39 million over the next fiscal year while an initial budget showed expenses of about $49 million.

State law does not allow the council to pass a negative budget, which means council members will have to work with the city’s administration to cut approximately $10 million from initial budget requests.