Your Garbage Bill Just Changed — And EMAC Is Losing $500K a Month Because of It
Chip Moreno
What Happened to My Garbage Bill?
If you've noticed something different about your utility bills lately, you're not imagining things. EMAC EP — Cuenca's municipal waste management company — has fundamentally changed how it collects the garbage fee, and the transition is not going smoothly.
Here's the short version: the garbage collection fee used to appear on your Centro Sur electric bill. Simple, automatic, hard to miss. Now it's been moved to either ETAPA EP (the water/telecom utility) or direct payment at EMAC offices.
The result? EMAC is projecting a monthly deficit of approximately $500,000 because a significant number of residents simply aren't paying under the new system.
Old System vs. New System
| Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Billed through | Centro Sur (electric bill) | ETAPA or EMAC offices |
| Charged per | Electric meter | Cédula (ID number) |
| Senior discount | Yes | Eliminated |
| Disability discount | Yes | Yes (only remaining discount) |
| Collection rate | High (bundled with electric) | Significantly lower |
The biggest change most expats will notice: if you're over 65, your senior citizen discount on garbage collection is gone. Under the new ordinance, only disability discounts remain.
Why This Matters to You
The Billing Confusion
About 40% of the billing database has migrated to ETAPA, but the transition has created confusion. If you own property with multiple electric meters (common for homes with rental suites or separate water heaters), the old system charged per meter. The new system charges per cédula — which can mean either paying more or less depending on your situation.
Even trickier: if you bought a property but the previous owner never transferred the utility accounts, the garbage debt is accumulating under their cédula. When you eventually try to sort out the paperwork, you could run into complications.
The Service Cuts
To cope with the revenue shortfall, EMAC has already made cuts:
- Park maintenance suspended until the second half of 2026
- Tree planting programs on hold
- Overtime hours eliminated for workers
- Grass-cutting intervals extended — expect shaggier parks and medians
The core services — garbage collection, street cleaning, and power washing — are being maintained. But if you've noticed the parks looking a little rougher lately, now you know why.
What You Should Do
- Check whether your garbage fee is appearing on your ETAPA bill. If you don't see it, you may need to register directly with EMAC.
- If you own property, verify that all utility accounts are in your name. Unpaid garbage fees can create headaches when selling.
- Visit EMAC's offices (Avenida Solano) if you're unsure about your billing status. Better to sort it out now than let debt accumulate.
- If you're a senior citizen (65+), be aware that your discount has been removed. The fee is not enormous, but it's a change worth knowing about, especially on a fixed income.
The Financial Picture
EMAC says the official financial impact assessment won't be ready until early March, after three full billing cycles under the new system. But the $500,000/month estimate is already alarming — that's $6 million annually in lost revenue for a municipal company that maintains Cuenca's parks, processes its recycling, and keeps the streets clean.
The company hasn't announced any plans to raise rates to compensate, but don't be surprised if that conversation starts in the coming months.
The Takeaway
This is one of those quiet bureaucratic changes that affects every single household in Cuenca. The garbage still gets picked up (for now), but the ripple effects — unkempt parks, eliminated discounts, billing confusion — are already visible.
If nothing else, go check your ETAPA bill this week. Make sure you're paying for garbage collection. Because if enough people don't, the math gets worse — and so do the service cuts.
Source: El Mercurio
