Elkins Council to vote on 30.7% sanitation rate hike
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ELKINS – On Monday, the Elkins City Finance Committee moved to recommend a proposed 30.7% sanitation rate increase for the consideration of Elkins City Council.
Before the Finance Committee voted on Monday afternoon, Elkins City Treasurer Tracy Judy explained time was of the essence to get an increase passed. She spoke of how much sanitation services, with regard to disposal and landfills, has increased since the last time the City had a rate change in 2010.
“I’ve also looked at some other things from the state legislature back in 2014, as far as landfills with assessments,” Judy told the committee. “At that time, the cost was $47 a ton. Currently, as of 2023, that has more than doubled. It is $95.55 a ton. So there has been three increases since the $47 a ton, in 2018, 2020 and 2023.”
Judy stated there were two options for the committee to consider. A two-step spaced out rate increase, with the first increase being 15.5% and the second being 15.2%. The second option was a single rate increase at 30.7%. Judy recommended the second option.
“It’s $6.46 from current ($19.54) to the $26,” Chris Lowther, Third Ward Council member and a member of the Finance Committee, said during the meeting. “I’m in favor of just a one-time do it… Let’s just do it one time and be done with it.”
Robert Chenoweth, a First Ward Council member and head of the Finance Committee, agreed with Lowther, saying, unless there was a good reason not to, it made sense to do just a single increase.
City Attorney Geraldine Roberts, who joined the meeting via video call, stated the City had previously absorbed several high financial changes regarding sanitation without the cost falling back on City customers. This included the financing of the City’s new $1.5 million Sanitation Garage, which became operational in February, and three rate increases from the Tygart Valley Transfer Station, which includes landfill fees.
According to information provided to The Inter-Mountain by City Clerk Sutton Stokes, from Oct. 14, 2025 through Oct. 6, 2026, the City of Elkins paid $716,705.80 to Tygart Valley Transfer for refuse disposal services.
Lowther noted the City’s Sanitation Department is a self-sustaining enterprise fund, and, by law, can only be funded entirely by revenue from customers who use the service.
“It (the Sanitation Department) can’t receive funds from the General Fund budget,” Lowther said. “Because I want that to be clear when we start putting this out, that this is another enterprise fund that has to survive solely off what revenue it generates.”
Chenoweth asked what Tygarts Valley Sanitation charges their customers. Lowther said it was approximately $32 a month, and he noted that other sanitation providers in the tri-county area are even higher. Chenoweth commented that, while 30.7% seems like a high increase, Elkins customers will still be paying less than Tygarts Valley Sanitation customers.
Judy noted that several other providers have been recently raising their rates as well due to the current state of the U.S. economy. All three agreed the City of Elkins had done well to maintain such a steady rate for 16 years despite growing costs.
Lowther said he had seen people question online if they could use a different sanitation provider and not the City of Elkins. He said one resident had commented that she uses Tygart Valley Sanitation, but still receives a bill from the City of Elkins every month. Judy and Roberts said this was correct. Elkins residents can choose to use a different sanitation provider, but because they live in city limits, they would still receive a monthly sanitation bill from the City on top of the bill from their new provider.
Lowther then asked, if this rate increase is not passed, how long can the Sanitation Department survive. Judy predicted they could sustain the department until spring.
The proposed rate increase will now be put on Elkins City Council’s agenda before the end of 2026, according to a City of Elkins press release. If approved by City Council, the rate increase would go into effect in early 2027. This would be the City’s first sanitation rate increase since 2010.
For a typical residential customer, the proposal would increase the monthly sanitation charge from $19.54 to $26, the City states. A typical business using a 2-yard dumpster with weekly collection would see its monthly sanitation bill increase from $71.15 to $94.67. The City says the exact impact on individual businesses would would vary according to dumpster size and collection frequency. Detailed rate schedules will be made available as part of the public review process.
The City says the proposed new rates would "help ensure that Elkins can continue providing reliable sanitation services by keeping pace with rising operating costs, maintaining modern equipment and facilities and supporting the workforce responsible for collecting and disposing of the community's refuse."
"According to financial analysis performed for the City by an independent accounting firm, the rates established in 2010 no longer generate sufficient revenue to cover projected operating costs, debt obligations and capital needs," the release states. "Without a rate adjustment, the sanitation utility is projected to operate at a deficit, making it increasingly difficult to maintain current service levels, replace aging equipment, and invest in the infrastructure needed to continue offering this essential service safely and efficiently."
Elkins City Council will meet at 7 p.m. on Dec. 3, after the Nov. 19 meeting was canceled.