FAIRHOPE, Ala - City Council President Lonnie Mixon announced at Monday’s council meeting that he wanted the budget committee, which he had just nominated and the council appointed, to include one year of free garbage service to Fairhope residents in the next budget, starting in October.

The one-year cancellation of garbage, trash and recycling fees would cost the city about $1.2 million in lost revenue, Mixon said Tuesday morning.

“This is the only service provided by the city that pertains to all citizens who reside within the city limits, thus making the benefit equal for all city residents,” Mixon stated from a prepared statement he read at the May 9 meeting. “And now is the time to provide our city residents with financial relief during this time of economic stress.”

The one-year garbage fee cancellation plan was one of four goals he said should be included in next year’s budget.

The budget process, to include hearings before a Financial Advisory Committee that he and other council members initiated shortly after taking office in November 2008, will begin again this summer for the third year in a row.

At the Monday meeting, Mixon recommended, and the council voted unanimously (with Councilman Rick Kingrea absent until later in the meeting) to appoint the following people to the FAC, which the council created after the 2008 elections: Stan Grubin, chair, Mayor Tim Kant, Mixon, Charles Zunk and Gail Gardner.

Only Gardner is a new member to the committee. Two other members were not reappointed.

Mixon stated that the garbage fee plan, as well as merit and promotional pay increases for city employees (but not cost-of-living increases for hourly-wage workers), were justified by the financial progress the council had made during the past two years.

“The council had to make some hard decisions, such as: initiating a salary and hiring freeze; adjusting fees for use of city facilities; enacting a sales tax and requiring that one-half of that tax money be set aside in a true ‘rainy day’ reserve fund,” Mixon stated. “As a result of these decisions, we now have cash reserves in the general fund as well as all three utility funds.”

The council president said the garbage fee reduction and salary increase plan, as well as continuing efforts to improve the city’s financial condition and provide for infrastructure improvements, would accomplish an overriding purpose which he stated in the form of a question.

“So, as responsible stewards of the city’s finances, how best can the council strike a balance between the need to keep Fairhope’s finances strong and assist its individual residents in this extraordinary time of economic stress?”

The garbage fee plan and other proposals came as a surprise to the mayor and some council members.

“Well, that’s the first time I ever heard about giving away something for free,” Kant said Tuesday. “I’ve been advocating, that with all the extra cash we have, to retire debt or reduce our sales tax.”

Kant said he had spoken with Councilman Mike Ford, who said he not been informed of the plans before Monday’s announcement.

“I also spoke with (Councilwoman) Debbie Quinn, who said Mixon told her he might look into the idea, but the statement he made, it sounds like a done deal,” Kant said.

The mayor also questioned whether the process the council had set up for filling committee vacancies to provide greater transparency and accountability had been followed in the appointment of the budget committee.

He also considered another possibility for the free garbage plan.

“Oh, it’s no doubt it’s an election move on his part.”

Citywide elections for council and mayor will occur in August 2012.