Seal Beach Trash Collection Bills to Go Up $1 a Month

Just months after having their water rates increased, residents can expect a $1 hike in their monthly trash-collection bills.

The rate increase, expected to take effect over the next two months, will raise the average monthly garbage bill from $12.75 to $13.75.

City Manager Jerry Bankston said the fee increase was necessary after the landfills used by the city raised their prices last July.

Bankston said the city absorbed the increase until now so that residents wouldn’t have to face two rate hikes at once. Water rates were increased around the same time the landfills raised their prices.

Landfill charges have skyrocketed in the past decade, from $4.90 per ton of trash in 1982 to $22.75 per ton now. And the rate will rise to $27 later this year.

The sharp increases are prompted in part by state laws that require landfill operators to set aside money to monitor and clean up the landfills once they are closed.

The new trash collection rates come as city officials are considering an increase in the utility users tax as one possible way of closing a budget shortfall that could top $1 million.

The city now charges a 5% tax on all gas, electric and telephone bills. Some officials have suggested doubling the tax to 10% as a way of closing the budget gap, which was caused by cuts in state funding.