Terre Haute residents will pay an extra $10 dollars a month after city council passed a Waste and Refuse ordinance Thursday night.
Mayor Duke Bennett says property tax caps have dropped cash flows to the point that the city will have to reduce services and implement layoffs if the council doesn't approve new revenue streams.
"A lot of people think it's just new funding," Bennet says. "It's new revenue above and beyond what we get. And so you have to go back to that baseline that we lost $10 million dollars a year in funding that previously paid for that."
He says the fee is only for those who pay property taxes within city limits, so businesses and apartment duplexes are exempt. Veterans, seniors and disabled residents can claim 25 percent credits.
Bennett says Terre Haute is one of the hardest hit cities due to property tax caps losing more than $70 million since 2009.
Listen to more on this week's "Ask The Mayor" with Terre Haute's Duke Bennett.