The Peru Common Council Tuesday unanimously passed a hotly debated $12 monthly trash fee for city residents, but only after nearly an hour of public comment that sometimes drew a raucous response from the large crowd that packed council chambers.
Mayor Jim Walker said the city is expected to lose around $744,000 next year because of property tax caps imposed by the state, and said the new fee will replace the lost revenue and allow the city to continue all trash pickup services.
Although many voiced their support for the monthly fee, a number of residents criticized the new ordinance as an unnecessary tax increase and argued for privatizing trash pickup in the city.
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