Tamaqua residents will see a jump in the price they pay for garbage collection and recycling.

The increase, which equals an additional $24 per quarter, is the result of a new and costlier garbage contract with Tamaqua Transfer and Recycling.

Council approved the new fees during Tuesday evening’s regular meeting.

Residents will now pay $75 per quarter or $300 per year for the services. Previous rates were $51 per quarter, or $204 per year.

Borough Manager Kevin Steigerwalt said he and borough solicitor Anthony Odorizzi discussed the numbers.

“We feel it would be sufficient to cover the contract as well as operating costs,” Steigerwalt explained.

In May, council approved a 5-year contract with the Tamaqua-based trash hauler. The company bid $786,600 for the first three years with a slight increase in the fourth and fifth years.

The price was almost less than half of the second lowest bid received.

Under the current contract, which ends June 30, the borough had been paying $525,000 per year.

Steigerwalt had said that the borough’s general fund wouldn’t be able to handle the approximate $261,000 annual increase and hinted that residents’ rates would need to go up.

Tamaqua Transfer owner Larry Wittig said the hike was due to a number of factors including rising labor and landfill fees.

Council unanimously passed the fee changes with little discussion.

“I’m still not satisfied with the 5-year contract at this point,” Councilman Ron Bowman said. “I guess we are saddled with it.”

Bowman predicted that when the rates rise over the contract’s fourth and fifth years, residents will be asked to pay more than $75 per quarter.