City Manager Chris Morrill said it appears most cities added solid waste collection fees in the ‘90s, and that Roanoke has been able to avoid it for 20 years, but may not be able to any longer.

Councilwoman Michelle Dykstra said she is certain there’s value in the city’s solid waste service, but that residents are not accustomed to paying for it.

“This is like having a free Netflix trial for a month and then all of a sudden Netflix says, ‘OK, we’re going to start charging your credit card every month’ and you really started to appreciate and enjoy those services that Netflix was providing for you and now they’re going to charge you for it,” she said.

Ultimately, council said it wanted city staff to continue to explore, and gave them the OK to advertise for, the water utility tax increase and a solid waste fee. But the council still supports cuts to proposed expenditures.