COUNTYWIDE : Garbage Collection Fees to Rise July 1

Ventura County residents will pay up to $1.25 more each month to dispose of their garbage under a plan approved earlier this week that allows landfills to raise their fees.

The Ventura Regional Sanitation District approved a proposal to raise the commercial tipping fee from $30 to $39.50 a ton at the Bailard landfill in Santa Clara. Commercial rates at Toland Road landfill, east of Santa Paula, will rise to $33 a ton from $26.

Private vehicles will be charged a flat $15 fee, up from $10. District directors also decided to charge a $24 per ton fee to dispose of recycling materials.

The new fee was added to the district’s rate structure to encourage residents to recycle garbage, district General Manager Wayne Bruce said.

The increases, which go into effect July 1, mean that residents will pay between 65 cents and $1.25 more each month to have their garbage carted away by a commercial hauler, Bruce said.

The fee increases at the landfills are needed to pay the costs of closing Bailard and for expansion of the district’s recycling program, Bruce said.

Bailard landfill receives garbage from residents in Camarillo, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ventura. Santa Paula and Fillmore residents send their garbage to the Toland Road landfill.

The monthly garbage bill varies by area because each carting company sets its own collection rates, Bruce said.