Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee Monday night recommended raising property taxes as part of his plan to make up for a large city budget gap. Carlee told City Council the bump of almost 2 cents per $100 of property value would bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of Charlotte’s residential trash service. So what does that mean for the “pay-as-you-throw” trash plan under deliberation last year?
The city was looking at requiring residents to buy special bags that include the cost of trash service in their
price. The bags are $0.50 to $2 each. The “pay as you throw” service was one way the city could’ve done away with the flat, $47 fee homeowners pay now for trash service. But Monday night, Carlee said he was going in another direction: the property tax increase he’s proposing would be enough to do away with the fee, he says. And Carlee claims people with homes valued under $267,000 would pay less overall. However, businesses would still pay a city trash fee. On Tuesday, a city spokesperson confirmed that Charlotte doesn’t anticipate discussing pay-as-you-throw again anytime soon.