If unpaid by November 1, 2026, the charge will be added to your property tax bill. There are no penalties for paying with your tax bill.

Paying Prior to the Tax Bill:
The fee is due November 1, 2026 to the Clerk’s Office. Payment can be made online, by mail, or in-person at the City Clerk’s office.

Pay in-person at the Clerk’s Office.  Cash, checks, and credit cards* are accepted. Office hours are Monday-Friday, 7:30AM-4:30PM. The City Clerk’s Drop Box, located in the City Hall front entrance, is available 24/7 for payments made by check. Make checks payable to the City of Berlin. Write “Recycling” and the address or parcel number on the memo line.

Mail and make checks payable to:
City of Berlin
PO Box 272
Berlin, WI 54923

Write “Recycling” and the address or parcel number on the memo line.

Pay Online* by clicking the Payment Button above, or by clicking the link here.

*Please note. A processing fee will be added to payments received by credit card.

Paying with the Tax Bill
Do nothing and the special charge will appear on your tax bill at the end of the year. There will be no penalties for paying this charge with your tax bill. The  charge will be due either with the first tax installment payment or with the full tax installment payment, due January 31, 2027. The charge cannot be split between two tax payments.

Like many municipalities in Wisconsin, the City of Berlin is facing ongoing budget challenges tied to state-imposed levy limits. These limits restrict how much the City can increase property taxes each year, based on the value of net new construction. The same inflation that affects everyone also causes the City’s costs to provide services to citizens to increase at a rate greater than the City’s net new construction.

To address these challenges, the City is moving recycling costs out of the property tax levy and into a separate special charge. Shifting this cost to a separate fee reduces the City’s burden on the overall property tax levy and creates additional capacity in the General Fund to support other essential services, such as public safety.

The City has already taken significant steps to reduce spending each year. Despite these efforts, certain costs such as fuel, labor, and service contracts, cannot be reduced without impacting essential services.

The special charge will fund the cost of recycling services.

The fee is determined by the costs of recycling services rendered through the contract the City holds with Waste Management in 2026, and does not exceed the actual costs incurred by the City per Wis. Stats. § 66.0628(2).

The special charge only applies to residential properties including multi-family dwellings of four or less residential units. It does not apply to vacant lots, commercial units, or multi-family dwellings containing five or more residential units; these properties are responsible for arranging and paying for their own garbage and recycling services. To see the anticipated charge for your parcel, please click the Recycling Charge Look-Up button above.

When you pay your tax bill, only about 34% stays with the City of Berlin. The rest goes to other taxing bodies: the Berlin Area School District, Green Lake and Waushara County, and Moraine Park Technical College.

The City’s share of property taxes funds critical services such as police, fire, emergency medical services, streets and sewers, as well as quality of life services such as parks and the library. With rising costs across these essential areas, and levy limits restricting revenue growth, a change in funding for recycling is necessary.

No. The City will provide the same garbage and recycling service through its current contract with Waste Management.

No. The Wisconsin recycling law bans the land filling or incineration of certain recyclable or compostable materials. The solid waste reduction, recovery and recycling law was enacted to create new ways to manage solid waste and encourage reduction, reuse and recycling of Wisconsin’s solid waste. The law can be found in Chapter 287, of the Wisconsin State Statutes, and related administrative rules found in Wisconsin Administrative Code, chapters NR 542 to 549. Wisconsin’s recycling requirements apply to everyone in the state, at all locations. This includes schools, public places, businesses, special events, homes and apartments.

In addition, curbside recycling is mandatory per City Ordinance Sec. 54-16.

City Ordinance Sec. 54-16 – Recyclable Materials Collection.
Recyclable materials specified under Wis. Stats. § 287.07(3) to (4), shall be collected by the city, or a city contracted collecting and transporting service, once per week for all residential properties which are not multiple-family dwellings, provided that such materials are properly separated, handled, prepared, contained, stored, and located in conformance with this article and rules and regulations established and publicized by the solid waste and recycling coordinator. Curbside recycling is mandatory, and residents will be required to comply when they are served by a recycling route. Such collection of recyclable materials shall be provided by special charge on the property tax bill pursuant to Wis. Stats. §66.0627(2), such special charge will be collected annually by the city to fund recycling program operations and collection of one rollout container per residential property unit  as provided by the city. Recyclable materials containers shall be placed out for collection separated three feet from post-consumer waste containers on the regular post-consumer waste collection day. View this signed and adopted ordinance here.

Click here for a brochure to Wisconsin Waste Reduction and Recycling Law (WA-422)

Click here to view State Statute Chapter 287 – Solid Waste Reduction, Recovery and Recycling

No. There must be one recycling can per residential unit that must remain with the residential unit, per City Ordinance 54-18.

City Ordinance 54-18 – Containers
The city has provided all existing residential properties which are not multiple-family dwellings with one rollout post-consumer waste collection container per residential property unit at no cost, and one rollout recyclable materials collection container per residential property unit charged to the residential property unit owner as a special charge on the property tax bill to be collected annually by the city to fund recycling program operations and collection. The city will provide all newly developed residential properties which are not multiple-family dwellings with one rollout post-consumer waste collection container per residential property unit at no cost, and one rollout recyclable materials collection container per residential property unit charged to the residential property unit owner as a special charge on the property tax bill to be collected annually by the city to fund recycling program operations and collection. All containers shall remain with the applicable household unit, and any replacement container must be purchased from the city for a charge equal to the city’s cost (unless otherwise replaced pursuant to a warranty or other replacement program provided by the city’s contracted collecting and transporting service). View this signed and adopted ordinance here.

All recycling goes to a transfer station at the Berlin Waste Management site. From there it is transported to the Waste Management Material Recovery Facility in Germantown, WI. At the facility, any contamination is removed and sent to the landfill. All recyclable materials are prepared for markets.

Please contact your lender to discuss how this affects your escrow.

City staff have worked diligently to create accurate charges. However, staff recognizes there may be errors and sincerely apologizes for discrepancies.

Errors noticed BEFORE tax bills are calculated (calculation occurs mid-November) should be brought to the City Clerk’s attention, by phone at 920-361-5400 or by email at cityadministrator@cityofberlin.wi.gov.

Errors noticed AFTER tax bills are calculated  (calculation occurs mid-November) should be brought to the City Clerk’s attention, by phone at 920-361-5400 or by email at cityadministrator@cityofberlin.wi.gov. Once tax bills are calculated, the charge cannot be adjusted on the tax bill. Staff will work with you to either refund an overcharge, or invoice the correct amount.