West Salem residents will see higher garbage bills over the next two years after the Salem City Council approved new solid waste collection rates, while most Salem customers in Marion County will see no change. The plan also adds a larger 95-gallon cart option that will be available to households across the city starting Jan. 1, 2026.
Councilors voted unanimously on Nov. 24 to adopt Resolution 2025-28 following a public hearing and staff presentation on the rate proposal. The new schedule sets increases for the Polk County zone — which covers West Salem — effective Jan. 1, 2026, and again on Jan. 1, 2027, while keeping rates flat in the Marion County zone for at least the next couple of years.
Salem sets garbage rates separately for its two zones. Under the adopted plan, roll-cart customers in West Salem will see a 3.7% increase on Jan. 1, 2026. For the most common residential service level — a 35-gallon cart — that works out to about $1.20 more per month, bringing the bill to $33.05. Another bump follows on Jan. 1, 2027, when roll-cart rates in Polk County climb by 4.6%.
Other services on the west side are going up as well. Container service in Polk County will see a 9.1% increase in 2026 and 5.6% in 2027, while dropbox service will rise 0.7% in 2026 and 3.2% in 2027. Staff also recommended correcting past billing for Polk County dropbox customers by adding a 17.57% markup on disposal costs to cover franchise fees, state taxes and the city’s targeted operating margin.
City franchise administrator Ryan Zink told councilors the goal is to balance what customers pay with a reasonable return for the city’s six exclusive haulers. Under City Council Policy C-25, Salem aims for a pre-tax return on revenue between 8% and 12%, targeting 10%. Without the Polk County increases, staff projected the pre-tax return there would fall to 5.6% in 2026 and drop further to 0.9% in 2027.
Councilor Paul Tigan of Ward 1 said those numbers weighed heavily on him even as he welcomed the lack of increases on the east side of the river. “We know as a community that our month-by-month costs are going up — that’s just the reality of the situation,” Tigan said. “This is one of the places where, as a city, we determine what the bill looks like on a month-by-month basis, so it’s not a decision we should take lightly.” He added that he was glad the city is “holding the line at least in Marion County” by avoiding rate hikes there for now.
The financial picture reflects a mix of cost pressures. Haulers and staff cited inflation in fuel, labor and medical insurance, along with rising landfill fees in Polk County, where disposal rates at Coffin Butte Landfill jumped 20.5% in 2025 and are expected to rise another $10 per ton in each of the next two years. At the same time, the statewide Recycling Modernization Act sharply reduced costs for commingled recycling by eliminating disposal fees starting July 1, 2025, which helped offset other increases in the Marion County zone and allowed rates there to stay flat.
Alongside the rate changes, councilors approved a new 95-gallon residential cart option for both zones. The larger cart will cost $47.20 per month for Polk County customers and $56.40 for customers in Marion County. Staff and haulers said the service is aimed at households that currently pay for two garbage carts, such as a 65-gallon and an extra 35-gallon cart. About 175 accounts fall into that category, and those customers could save around $10 a month on average by consolidating into one 95-gallon cart, depending on their current service level.
Councilor Linda Nishioka of Ward 2, who serves on the Solid Waste Committee, said the panel spent months trying to design the larger-cart option so it would help families without encouraging more trash. “We were trying to find a way to save customers money but still have a mechanism that encourages a little bit of reduction in their trash,” Nishioka said. She added that she hopes customers “take advantage of the larger container, reduce the number that they have, reduce their bill, and still meet our overall goal of encouraging reduction of trash, encouraging more recycling and green waste.”
Haulers already use 95-gallon carts in other parts of Polk and Marion counties outside Salem’s city limits, so staff said expanding that option inside the city would standardize service and give larger families a way to manage rising costs. Zink told councilors that 871 residential accounts in Salem currently have more than one garbage cart, and he expects more households to downsize their total capacity as expanded recycling options roll out under the new state law.
Councilors also discussed how to educate residents about what belongs in each cart, noting concerns that higher garbage prices could push some people to hide trash in their recycling. Zink said Salem is working with Marion County and relying on new contamination-reduction funding in the Recycling Modernization Act to pay for mailers, cart hangers, neighborhood presentations and other outreach.
The newly adopted rates and the 95-gallon cart option will take effect Jan. 1, 2026, for customers in both the Marion and Polk County zones.
