In a 4-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved hikes to trash collection fees throughout Riverside County’s unincorporated communities, amounting to about 8% in additional costs that will be tacked onto residents’ bills, beginning in July.
The board authorized across-the-board hikes 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% 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.
Only Supervisor Kevin Jeffries opposed the increases, expressing a desire to lessen the impact of the fee adjustments by splitting their implementation into two separate six-month periods. When he inquired of the Office of County Counsel whether that might be feasible, he was told the terms of the haulers’ contracts made it complicated, and that a one-time adjustment was effectively required.
“That’s a good reason for these contracts to be renegotiated,” Jeffries said. “This takes away our discretion.”
The county has put the waste haulers on notice that their franchise contracts are due to be terminated in six years, which Jeffries said is necessary to have some bargaining power in negotiating better rates.
“We should do our best to minimize (the impacts) of these costs,” the supervisor said.
Last month, Supervisor Karen Spiegel expressed analogous sentiments, noting that galloping inflation had created “trying financial times” that demanded the board do “what’s best on behalf of our residents.” She said based on that, a study session should have been convened ahead of any hearings on hiking waste collection rates.
Despite her previous opposition to holding the hearing on the fee increases, Spiegel voted with the majority to hike rates.
The Burrtec hike will boost customers’ monthly rates from an average $26.60 to $28.07. Residents serviced by CR&R will see their bills go up from between $27.37 and $39.34, to between $29.64 and $42.65.
Desert Valley Disposal customers will go from paying an average $27.49 to $29.52, and Waste Management’s new fee structure will 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 previously 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% 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% — 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.
“We have the highest inflation we’ve seen in decades, and then you add SB 1383 into the mix, and it’s the perfect storm,” board Chairman Jeff Hewitt said last month. “There’s only so much we can push people in these hard times.”