Woodway trash bills jump 30% per year after landfill relocates

WOODWAY, Texas (KWTX) - Woodway residents will see their monthly trash bills increase from $25 to about $33 starting next spring, an annual jump of $83 per household, after the city’s waste disposal site moved from four miles away to nearly 40 minutes in Axtell.

The rate increase affects all customers of Frontier Waste Solutions, the city’s contracted trash and recycling service provider. The company cited increased transportation costs as the primary driver behind the price adjustment.

Mayor Amine Qourzal said the distance change left the city with little choice but to pass along higher costs to residents.

“The moving of the landfill means our trash rates are going to increase because the distance is further,” Qourzal said.

Two-tier pricing proposal considered

During the Dec. 8 city council meeting, officials weighed two pricing structures. The approved plan maintains current service levels with a 30% rate increase. An alternative proposal would have raised rates by 50% while upgrading recycling collection from bi-weekly to weekly service.

Qourzal supported the enhanced service option, believing residents would appreciate the added value during a period of unavoidable cost increases.

“My thinking was that now is the time to make any kind of adjustment. I was hoping we’d be able to get weekly recycling because residents would feel like they got something extra,” the mayor said.

However, council members ultimately chose the more conservative approach to limit financial impact on households already facing the landfill-related increase.

“We’re already experiencing a big jump with the landfill moving. Council didn’t want to incur too much of an increase for our residents at the same time,” Qourzal said.

Recycling service creates scheduling challenges

Current recycling collection occurs every other week, serving approximately 70% of Woodway households. The bi-weekly schedule has created logistical issues for some residents who generate more recyclable materials.

Resident Nate Landrath described the frustration of missing collection days and having to transport full bins to friends’ homes to avoid waiting another two weeks for pickup.

“I find myself sometimes loading up the recycle bin, going across town because we just missed them, and putting it at a friends house so that it gets dumped because it’s another two weeks before it gets dumped again,” Landrath said.

Other residents find the current frequency adequate for their household needs. M-J Perry said his family rarely fills their recycling container between collections.

“Our family doesn’t really need it any more frequently than once every other week. We almost never fill up our recycling bin,” Perry said.

Despite accepting the rate increase as inevitable, Perry acknowledged the financial burden on local families.

“Nobody likes to pay more. But everything is going up too,” he said.

The mayor indicated weekly recycling service remains a future possibility as the city evaluates service options over time.

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