YORBA LINDA : City Approves 5.2% Hike for Trash Fees

The City Council has approved a 5.2% increase in trash collection rates to pay for the higher cost of dumping waste at county landfills.

Council members voted 4 to 1 this week to increase the monthly residential trash collection rates from $12.85 to $13.52. The increase marks the second time the rates have gone up this year.

Yorba Linda Disposal, which has a franchise with the city to collect trash at homes and businesses, asked for the increase because of a 28.2% rise in the costs of dumping trash at county landfills. On July 1, the gate fees at landfills will rise from $17.75 a ton to $22.75.

Under the franchise agreement, the City Council can authorize new rates only with an increase or decrease in landfill gate fees.

The franchise agreement was amended earlier this year to pay the cost of a recycling program. In March, council members approved a $3.05-a-month increase to pay for the cost of the state-mandated program. The increase was to pay for bonds to purchase new bins and trucks.

City officials have since discovered that the bond cost will be lower than expected because of declining interest rates. Customers will be credited for the savings on their bills.

Mayor Mark Schwing, who voted against the rate increase for the recycling program, also opposed this week’s increase. Schwing said after the meeting that he disputed the county’s gate fee increase. With cities reducing the amount of waste going to landfills because of new recycling programs, he said, the cost of operating the dumps should be going down.

“The city just takes these rate increases by the county and doesn’t challenge it,” Schwing said. “Cities just blindly pass these on to customers. I don’t think that’s fair.”

The council also approved a 4% increase in commercial collection rates from $85.05 a month to $88.47 a month. That amount pays for the pickup of a three-cubic-yard bin once a week.