Milan to raise water, garbage rates; City to revisit event costs later this year

The Milan City Council on Tuesday June 17 approved its new fee schedule, which includes a 60-cent per unit increase for water, while sewer rates remain unchanged. 

Garbage rates will increase by $5.26 a month to help stabilize the city’s rubbish fund. The fund currently has only a 14.6 percent fund balance, well below the city’s target of 26 percent—a level officials say is needed to cover unexpected costs in that department.

One new expense is that the city will have to pay to dump their compost this year. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said the city can no longer use the existing site within the city. Mayor Ed Kolar said it would benefit the city to educate residents about the benefits of mulching leaves, rather than having the city pick them up, something he said would be “better for your lawn, better for your city.” Currently the city spends approximately $40,000 on leaf collection each year.

Commercial Dumpsters:

After Jan. 1, 2026, Milan City will no longer provide commercial dumpster service. Businesses will be responsible for arranging their own waste collection—either by continuing with the city’s current contractor or selecting another provider.

“It will allow them to shop the competition,” Milan City Manager Jim Lancaster said, explaining that the city is not getting a volume discount on that service.

Credit Cards:

Contractors and others making purchases at the city will now pay the 3 percent credit card fees. There will continue to be no extra fees for checks, cash or bank transfers. 

The city estimated it lost $57,000 on credit card fees last year, more than the two previous years during which the city lost around $39,000 annually to credit card fees.

“A lot of those are building permits that contractors come in and put on credit cards,” Lancaster said during the public hearing on June 3. “The way I look at it is if you pay for your water bill with a check, you are actually paying for somebody else who pays with a credit card.”

Rental inspections:

The company that does the city’s rental inspections contract expires in September, at which point they will start charging the city more.  The city is passing those costs on to property owners. The rental inspection program does not make the city money, but is budgeted a net zero so the fees must match the costs. Under the new rates most inspections go up by about $5. Most fees stay the same.

Parades & Events:

In addition, the city council discussed the new fees implemented last year on parades & events. While the event costs will stay the same, the city council members, who say they have heard many questions from residents on the fees, plan to revisit those at the one-year point to get feedback from those impacted and make any needed adjustments.

Commercial Growth Wanted:

At the budget hearing, Kolar and Lancaster expressed a desire for more diverse sources of income for the city to lighten the tax and fee burden on residents.

“We’d like to see the commercial and industrial grow over time and we’ve been talking about that for years – that we need to grow our tax base,” Kolar said.