First, Griffith residents saw their sanitary treatment rate increase this year. Soon, it will be their trash disposal fee going up.
The Griffith Town Council announced at Tuesday’s meeting that it had reached a new three-year contract with Republic Services. The deal means Griffith agrees to a rate hike — costs that will be passed on to Griffith homeowners and businesses.
Town Council President Rick Ryfa, R-3rd, said the current rate of $18.25 per month will increase over the next three years until it reaches $26 per month in 2026. Homeowners over age 65 can apply with the town for a $2 monthly discount.
On December 1, 2023, the new rate will kick in at $23 per month, an increase of $4.75 per month and $57 more per year. By the end of the contract, Griffith trash collection/recycling customers will be paying an additional $93 per year. Today’s $219 annual cost will rise to $318 in the final year of the contract.
Ryfa said Republic reasoned that the trash collection rate hike was required due to an “80% increase” in the company’s transportation costs — but that Griffith still maintains one of the lowest rates in the region and has the added benefit of weekly recycling pickup.
The trash disposal fee shares the monthly Griffith utility bill with the storm and wastewater treatment billing, which is increasing 5-to-10 cents, per 1,000 gallons of water treated, through 2030. By that time, Griffith will have paid approximately $30 million toward fulfilling its share of the Hammond Sanitary District federal consent decree mandating HSD sewage treatment plant upgrades.
Accordingly, the average monthly residential bill for Griffith home and business owners increased to $39.30 on July 1, 2023. There’s also a property tax-related impact to Griffith’s compliance in that the Town Council this year executed a Sanitary District bond of up to $4 million — as an installment on paying the town’s share of the HSD plant upgrades.
As HSD is the town’s water and sewage treatment provider, Griffith is therefore adjoined to the federal ruling relative to Hammond’s discharge into Lake Michigan. A U.S. District Court ruled HSD and its customers in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
