In The News: City of Modesto Proposes Increase to Garbage Fees to Fund Reduced Urban Forestry Program

On Friday May 2, 2014, in an article on efforts to balance the Modesto city budget, the Modesto Bee reported the city proposes a 5% hike to resident’s garbage bills. This fee increase would be needed to replace 1.3 million dollars from the city’s general fund that typically pays for the city’s urban forestry program. According to the article, the urban forestry program in Modesto pays to prune and maintain over 200,000 trees within the city limits. The city can’t eliminate the forestry program altogether because the green waste it generates is used to meet a state requirement that half of the City’s garbage not go to area landfills.