Garbage bills going up for South Shore customers
By Kathryn Reed
Garbage rates are expected to go up throughout the South Shore starting May 1.
The joint powers authority that oversees waste matters agreed to recommend the rate increase earlier this month. Now the three jurisdictions – South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, and Douglas County – need to approve the hike.
Fees are slated to go up 4.48 percent in El Dorado County, and 4.97 percent in South Lake Tahoe and Douglas County. For residential customers this equates to a monthly increase of $1.20 in El Dorado County, $1.15 in South Lake Tahoe and 77 cents in Douglas County. This means monthly rates become $27.97 in El Dorado County, $24.33 in South Lake Tahoe, and $16.33 in Douglas.
South Tahoe and El Dorado have unlimited service and Douglas has one 32-gallon can for those monthly rates.
The city and El Dorado County elected officials are expected to vote on the matter May 1, with the increase taking effect immediately. Douglas County officials did not respond to a request to find out when the vote would be taken nor is any information on the website.
Recyclables don't have much of a return in terms of cash, but they do keep garbage out of landfills. Photo/LTN
Through South Tahoe Refuse company’s franchise agreements with the three jurisdictions it is allowed to ask for a rate increase every three years. Normally it comes on Jan. 1. But last year the company with the JPA, which has an official from each of the jurisdictions, worked out a process to streamline the process.
“What we tried to do was standardize the rate application so all three jurisdictions are on the same level,” explained Gerri Silva, director of Environmental Management for El Dorado County. “We tried to go through and define what is a good index. Some of us used COLAs, some used CPI.”
With this and future rate increase proposals the Garbage and Trash Index will be used to help determine rates.
The idea is this method will eliminate spikes.
Jeff Tillman, president of the South Lake Tahoe-based refuse company, said all of his costs are going up – landfill charges, fuel, insurance, everything – so the increase is needed.
STR employees have gone without a raise for four years, the pension has been cut, and less equipment is being used.
“We are trying to make it work,” Tillman said, acknowledging no one likes any bill to go up.
While STR is recycling 66 percent of the garbage it collects – exceeding the state mandate – there is little money to recover from those products. What does come in is not profit; it goes into the base rate calculations.
Things beyond STR’s control have diminished its income. The homeowners who did not rebuild after the Angora Fire no longer pay a garbage bill.
Foreclosed properties also don’t have an STR bill.
“When the properties were demolished at Stateline that was a huge chunk,” Tillman told Lake Tahoe News.
When something gets built at “the hole” then STR will have several more clients to bill.
Commercial service is based mostly on how many times the dumpster is emptied. With so few people in town this winter, not much garbage was produced, so bills were light for those property owners – which in turn means revenue is down for STR.
AGAIN?!?
So the Refuse Co. is saying it’ll lower rates when something is built in the ‘hole’? It’s committing to that? Of course it’s not! What a bunch of baloney!
If the City Council goes along with this that’ll prove they don’t work for the citizens, but only certain special interests!
Isn’t great to have a business with gauranteed income? And when revenue falls, you just ask for and receive a gauranteed raise in rates. And don’t forget, the city, and both counties get a piece of the action, just another way to generate money for the city to blow on other ill conceived projects.
And whenever I go by the owner’s house and see one of the garbage company trucks there and the guys are blowing their snow or doing their yard work, I think, well, on the one hand they ARE paying them. But since they have a monopoly business, they’re paying them with OUR money to do THEIR chores. And I question the ethics of that.
Captive STR ratepayers should be allowed to see the enormous salaries the STR family members pay themselves, the lavish “boardroom” at the STR building, and other indulgences.
And why can’t city customers be allowed to choose their level of service. Those needing only one-can weekly service, should be rewarded with the same rate as similar customers in Douglas County, thus lowering their yearly garbage bill by nearly $100. The city should require incentives for those generating less trash by recycling.
Since every home/business owner pays a bill whether they use the service or not, how much would the cost go up if all homes were occumpied. My street has 28 properties but only 5 have full time occupants. Two are vaction rentals and the other 21 are 2nd homes where the owner spends only a few weeks a year. How much MORE money would they want if those 21 homes were occupied full time and not subsidizing the rest of our bills?
I’m broke and can’t afford a rate increase but lets be realistic they need the increase to keep us clean or should we unionize it so we can be like New York? Just saying……
tahoeadvocate
What street do you live on? Anything for sale?
It is time for the books of STR to be published on the web along with all salaries and pay scales. It is a quasi- government function and all government pay is now on the web. Then again if the government was providing the service who knows what the cost increase would be?
At my mother’s house in San Jose the cost is $30/month without good service. If the top is not down tight on the can, no pickup. The driver is not allowed to get out of the truck so the can has to be placed exactly so the “fork” can pick it up. The recycling program comprises an entire pamphlet of dos and don’ts. Absolutely ridiculous. I love STR and wouldn’t exchange it for Waste Mgmt. ever – though they’d love to buy STR.
While I am not pleased to hear of yet another rate increase (seems like we had one recently), I would like to applaud STR and their pick-up staff for without fail making my trash disappear each and every week.
Being a city transplant, I can totally and completely appreciate this little “miracle” that happens week in-week out with the trash simply being collected and taken away without hassle or complaint. It simple happens and this does not happen like this in many cities.
In the city, if your can weighs 2oz over their weight limit, no pick up. If your can is not to code/standard, no pick up. If animals got to your trash and left a mess, they don’t even bother to stop and keeping on driving. If you put out more than the allotted amount of yard waste, sorry, no pick up. I could go on, but in my many years of living in Tahoe, I have been amazed over and over again at how all of the trash is picked up and taken away.
I think about all the bags of yard clean-up waste each spring I see waiting for trash pick-up and STR removes them all. Again, being from the city, you would only be allowed the equivalent of one of those bags placed in the proper receptical and even then, you hope to heaven you didn’t exceed the weight limit because if you did, one of two things happens: no pick-up or you get charged an extra fee for the weight violation. Depends on your area for which outcome.
Anyways, I understand the feelings of ill will regarding the management/books, etc…but at least to me, I am so thankful that trash IS picked up each week. I could put out one can or 6 cans plus 30 yard waste bags–it all goes away. That gets a “yippee” from me. There’s nothing quite having a major backlog of garbage hanging around that isn’t going anywhere…just saying…
STR provides great service. They pick up whatever trash I put out in any weather and even walk the cans back in. I don’t have to sort out recyclables or worry if it’s yard waste week or not. If they have not taken a pay raise in 4 years and have even given up pension benefits, I would say they are doing all they can. Costs go up and they need to cover their bases. I don’t mind paying for good service. STPUD could learn something from STR.
I think STR does a very good job, and their workers are always courteous when I encounter them.
I am a little curious why the service in the County is slightly higher than in the City ($3.64 difference) – I wonder if it has to do with less concentrated development and/or more difficulties with snow removal.
Maybe STR provides the best service in the world, but that doesn’t mean they should be allowed any and all rate increases they desire! Especially considering it’s quite a profitable business!
And for the record, on the balance STR provides decent service. But it’s not perfect service.
Imagine the bear/raccoon/coyote problems we would have without efficient garbage removal.
i am generally against rate increases, specifically disgusted by the stpud metering fiasco, but have to applaud str for pretty much everything that the above posters note…
Our trash service IS excellent, and most of the employees are very good. It doesn’t explain the constant bill increases, though, especially if the money isn’t going to wages.
I think the reason our service is so much better than in the cities is that ours is not unionized. Honestly, working for STR is probably one of the best, steadiest jobs in the basin. And the people who work there know it!
anti-union, anti-middle class, anti-science, anti-progress for the 99%= fox/limbaugh parrot. Doesn’t it get mentally tiring to be on the wrong side of Every issue?
Why does this have to become personal against me AGAIN, Bongo? Doesn’t it get mentally tiring to be on attack mode against ideas that differ from yours 24/7?
You have a relentlessly bogus/negative opinion about Everything… I just point it out.
Pretty obvious the only thing Gone down in South shore are businesses,population,tourist,empty houses,employment.
You forgot civility.
I would like to thank STR and the managment team for all the support they give local community service agencies. If you look at any local thank you for support list you will see STR. Thank you for the ash disposal program with Lake Valley fire. Thank you agian for all you do for the community.
I doubt that the rate increase will cover the increase in fuel costs for the trucks.
Let’s see if the guys actually get a worthwhile raise or if the increase just continues to line the owner’s pockets.
STR already promised their employees a 3% raise to take effect this year and increase in retirement benefits, don’t know what date or if it already did.