The Board of Supervisors is slated Tuesday to set a public hearing for May on a series of proposed hikes to trash collection fees throughout Riverside County’s unincorporated communities, where collection costs would rise about 3% per customer under the haulers’ new rate plans.
The Department of Environmental Health is seeking across-the-board adjustments that all of the county’s trash collectors — Burrtec Waste, CR&R Inc., Desert Valley Disposal and Waste Management Inc. — want to incorporate into their current contracts with the county.
Environmental Health Director Jeff Johnson is asking for a hearing on May 20. Johnson said that the adjustments are necessary to keep pace with inflation. The waste haulers are permitted to seek rate adjustments every year based on rising landfill, transportation and other costs.
The board rarely denies adjustment requests. However, in 2020, then-Supervisor Kevin Jeffries opposed increases, arguing that financial hardships tied to the COVID lockdowns made it an inopportune time to hike fees on county residents. The increases were approved despite his opposition.
The Burrtec hike would boost customers’ monthly rates from an average $30.12 to $31.09.
Residents serviced by CR&R would see their bills go from between $35.49 and $37.13, to between $36.53 and $38.22.
Desert Valley Disposal customers would go from paying an average $36.72 to $37.78, and Waste Management’s new fee structure would increase from between $34.71 and $36.80, to between $35.73 and $37.88 per month for residential collections, according to the Department of Environmental Health.
In some cases, fees would increase beyond the averages under so-called “hard-to-reach” service plans, which apply when properties are especially remote.
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.
If approved at the public hearing in May, when any county resident can speak on the proposed increases, the new fees would take effect on July 1.