Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Council OKs Increase in Trash Fees for Businesses

Starting Aug. 1, commercial customers in Santa Clarita will have to pay more to get rid of their garbage.

A new commercial waste disposal and recycling program that will raise the collection costs for most of Santa Clarita’s 1,125 affected commercial accounts was adopted Tuesday by the City Council.

The new system, which will mean an average increase of 12.6% for most customers, is in response to the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which requires municipalities to reduce the amount of solid waste they send to landfills 25% by 1995 and 50% by the year 2000.

Under the new program, the city will enter into a seven-year contract with three waste haulers--Atlas Refuse Removal, Blue Barrel Disposal and Santa Clarita Disposal--for the collection, transportation, recycling, composting and disposal of commercial solid waste.

“We have a moral obligation to do better than any city in the state due to our opposition to Elsmere,” said Councilman Carl Boyer, referring to the council’s stand against a proposed landfill in Elsmere Canyon. “I am concerned about going into a seven-year contract, but I don’t see that we have much leeway,” Boyer said.

Deputy City Manager Jeff Kolin said the seven-year contract was necessary to allow the haulers, who will pay the city a franchise fee equal to 10% of their gross revenues, to amortize the costs of new equipment needed to implement the system. The long-term contract was also mandated by the haulers as a stipulation to the city’s demand that it be held harmless from any penalties that might eventually be levied by the state for noncompliance with the Integrated Waste Management Act.

Currently commercial waste disposal is unregulated, and businesses contract with the hauler of their choice. The new system will allow for competition among the three haulers, whose rates will fall within a preset rate band. A three-cubic-yard bin serviced once per week, for example, would cost the ratepayer between $48.81 and $90.48 per month. At least initially, each hauler will retain its current accounts. After Aug. 1, the haulers will be able to offer service to anyone within the city.

According to Kolin, at least 90% of the commercial accounts in the city are already serviced by either Atlas Refuse Removal, Blue Barrel Disposal or Santa Clarita Disposal.

The new program will also provide for an individualized recycling system based on consultations between the haulers and their customers. The rate for collection of recyclable materials will be no more than 70% of the rate for hauling trash, Kolin said.

Recycling companies, most of which pay customers to collect recyclable materials or haul them away for free, will not be restricted from doing business in Santa Clarita under the new agreement.

The measure passed unanimously, although Mayor Jan Heidt said she “reluctantly” voted yes.