The debate over how to pay for Houstonians trash pick-up isn't new to former mayoral candidate Bill King.
"As long as I can remember," King said, "the city of Houston is one of the few cities that does not charge for its garbage service."
King, who's now a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute, debated a trash fee when he ran for office a decade ago. Now, there's a proposal expected to reach the city council.
"I wasn't surprised particularly," King recalled. "The city has got really serious financial problems."
The Controller's Office says the city faces its largest deficit ever, at nearly $200 million. To combat it, Mayor John Whitmire is expected to roll out a budget proposal that includes a trash fee.
It starts at $5 a month. After the first two years, it could increase by $5 each year until it reaches $25 per month.
City figures show it could generate $20 million in the first year. The mayor's office said people living in HOA neighborhoods with private trash collection won't have to pay the fee, but all other homeowners have to.
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As a service people already have an issue with, 311 data shows over the last year, missed garbage pickup is the top complaint.
"As more and more people leave the city, the service is going to get worse because it's less efficient to pick up fewer homes," King explained.
A trash fee is something studies show Houstonians are willing to pay.
"It'll likely be very doable," Rice University's Houston Population Research Center director Daniel Potter explained. "Again, from our perspective, we saw two-thirds of residents would pay up to $10."
However, the study found that when the fee increased, support dropped. At $20, support fell to 21%. At $35, it fell to 10%.
No matter the fee amount, researchers said there's no debate over what Houstonians expect.
"At the end of the day, for us, what we saw within the data over and over again was, if you're telling me you want more money, you've got to tell me what you're doing with that money, and you have to show me you're actually doing it," Potter said.
The mayor plans to give more details on this proposal and the rest of the budget next week. It'll then move to the city council, which has to approve not only this fee, but the budget by the end of the month.