St. Paul Public Works officials announced Thursday they are pursuing an extension of the city's contract with the consortium of private garbage haulers that has been picking up trash at most residents' homes since 2018.

The first five-year contract with the consortium is set to end Sept. 30 but would be extended until March 31, 2025, under the proposal.

In a news release, the Public Works Department said residents would not see changes to their services, collection day or hauler, though the contract would mean pricing changes for some: Small-cart customers with weekly service would pay an extra $0.22 per month, and medium and large-cart customers would see bigger, unspecified increases.

Public Works also said the extension would give the city time to enact changes. Among the changes, amid concerns that low-waste households would be charged for garbage services they don't use, would be giving some households the option to share carts or opt out of trash collection altogether.

The city also plans to start providing in-house trash collection customer service, billing and cart delivery and repair, as well as up to 20% of total trash collection, by April 1, 2025.

"We are disappointed that we were not able to get cart sharing as part of this extension. But there's still work to be done. This extension ensures we avoid service disruptions as we continue to identify and implement service improvements," Deputy Mayor Jaime Tincher said in a statement.

In 2017, the St. Paul City Council passed an ordinance initiating city-organized trash hauling for single-family and smaller multi-family residences. Previously, those residents were responsible for coordinating their own haulers. In 2019, a ballot question asked voters whether they'd like to keep or repeal city-organized trash hauling, and 62.5% of St. Paulites voted to keep the city-run program.

The program has not been without hiccups: Last year, the St. Paul city attorney sent a letter to the consortium after complaints that Waste Management, one of the private haulers in the consortium, "failed to timely collect trash and yard waste."

The City Council will discuss and could vote on the proposal to extend the contract on Sept. 20.

Read the St. Paul city attorney's letter:

(Can't see the document? Click here.)