Whitley County Sanitation increasing rates for first time

If you are a customer of Whitley County Sanitation, which is the Whitley County Fiscal Court’s garbage collection service, then take note.

Effective Oct. 1, rates increased to $22 monthly, $62 quarterly, and $248 for annual payments. Extra cans are still $10 per month.

The rate increases are due to additional expenses incurred by the county.

Whitley County Solid Waste Coordinator Amber Owens noted that the biggest increase has been fuel. The county is also paying more for truck parts, and the landfill fees are the highest of any other operation in the area.

“All of that combined forced us to raise rates,” Owens noted in an e-mail. “Sanitation isn’t like most county operations, like the road department. It’s a service for a fee. There’s not a tax that specifically operates sanitation. In order to keep offering the service, we have to make sure we can cover the overhead costs.”

The Whitley County Fiscal Court started its own garbage collection business in February 2020, and it has since grown to nearly 4,000 customers.

Initially, the fiscal court started the service to pick-up trash in the eastern portion of the county in areas where people were complaining that they couldn’t get service. The service has since expanded countywide.

In September 2020, the Whitley County Fiscal Court voted to reduce the price for Whitley County Sanitation’s residential garbage service from $20 per month and $57 per quarter to $17.50 per month and $50 for quarterly payments, and $200 for annual payments.

This is where the rates remained until Oct. 1, 2022, when the rate increase went into effect.