BOARD TO CONSIDER RUBBISH COLLECTION FEE HIKES
Despite a supervisor’s push to delay action until cost reduction measures might be considered, the Board of Supervisors set a May 10 public hearing on a series of proposed hikes to trash collection fees throughout Riverside County’s unincorporated communities.
The board will consider acrossthe-board increases topping out around 8 percent sought by the four waste haulers under contract with the county — Burrtec Waste, CR&R Inc., Desert Valley Disposal and Waste Management Inc.
According to Department of
Environmental Health Director Jeff Johnson, the adjustments are necessary to keep pace with inflation, which federal consumer price data showed jumping 8.6 percent between January 2021 and January 2022 in the region. The waste haulers are permitted to seek rate adjustments every year based on rising landfill, transportation and other costs.
“Our region has a very high consumer price index,” Supervisor Karen Spiegel said. “Who knew six months ago that we would be witnessing these escalating increases in inflation?”
The Burrtec hike would boost customers’ monthly rates from an average $26.60 to $28.07. Residents serviced by CR&R would see their bills go from between $27.37 and $39.34, to between $29.64 and $42.65.
Desert Valley Disposal customers would go from paying an average $27.49 to $29.52, and Waste Management’s new fee structure would increase from between $23.36 and $26.16, to between $25.37 and $28.41 per month for residential collections, according to the Department of Environmental Health.
Waste collection for the county occurs in defined “franchise areas,” which currently number 11 and encompass communities such as Bermuda Dunes, Cabazon, Desert Center, East Hemet, French Valley, Lakeland Village, Nuevo, Thermal, Thousand Palms and Winchester. Most of the existing franchise agreements have been in place since the 1990s.
Johnson and Department of Waste Resources Director Hans Kernkamp told the board that state regulations are additionally fueling higher landfill costs that will be passed on to consumers. On Jan. 1, Senate Bill 1383 took effect, mandating that organic waste — mostly discarded food — be reduced, or diverted, to conserve space and reduce methane pollution.
The state target is a 75 percent reduction from 2014 levels of organic waste in landfills by 2025.
To meet compliance mandates of separating out organics from other garbage, as well as contend with inflationary pressures, the Department of Waste Resources is seeking fee increases in excess of 8 percent — in some cases three or four times that amount — for unloading bulk and other refuse at landfills.
The board is set to consider those fee hikes in a separate hearing on May 24.