The proposal, which will be presented by new City Administrator George Kolb at today's 2 p.m. Augusta Commission meeting, comes after months of delaying prior plans for trash collection to the city's growing southern and western subdivisions.

Earlier collection plans, which were drafted before Mr. Kolb came on board, had customers paying between $14.50 and $17.13 per month, depending on where they lived. Service would have been operated out of nine separate special tax districts, each one charging a different fee.

Service meeting There will be a meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Belle Terrace Community Center's senior citizens building to discuss extending garbage collection service to parts of District 5.

The revised financial plan for garbage collection proposes a flat fee of $16.25 per household per month, or $195 a year.

``We equalized the cost,'' Mr. Kolb said.

Currently, the only people who receive city-operated trash service are residents of what was the city of Augusta prior to consolidation. Those urban district residents pay about 3.5 mils more than suburban district residents in annual property taxes to cover various services, including garbage collection.

Under the proposed plan, residents of the former city would see no difference in their annual property tax bills. Their current taxes would cover the proposed $195 yearly fee required to operate garbage collection.

``It will be business as usual,'' Mr. Kolb said. ``Things will be done just as they've been done in the past.''

Residents living in suburban areas slated to get the new garbage service would not see a millage increase under the new plan, but they would see a new $195 charge on their annual property tax bills.

If approved today, extended collection could start as early as Aug. 1, Mr. Kolb said.

The initial cost would be prorated for five months of service, and start up fees would be funded from general fund reserves until enough property taxes were collected for the service to begin paying for itself, said Donna Williams, the city's interim comptroller.

City garbage collection currently services 15,212 customers and costs about $3.5 million per year. The expanded plan would serve about 38,140 customers and is expected to cost more than $7.2 million annually.

Both the flat rate and variable rate collection plans would provide garbage collection to the same geographical areas, but city officials say the latest collection proposal is more equitable.

``I'm anxious to get this project going,'' Mayor Bob Young said. ``This is the fairest way to do it, the most prudent way to do it, and the most cost effective way to do it.''

Reach Heidi Coryell at (706) 823-3215.