Garbage rates on South Shore increasing
Garbage rates on the South Shore are going up Jan. 1.
The Waste Management Joint Powers Authority on Nov. 14 approved rates in South Lake Tahoe and Douglas County to increase by 2.88 percent and 2.66 percent in El Dorado County. This board is made up Nancy McDermid from Douglas County, JoAnn Conner of South Lake Tahoe and Norma Santiago with El Dorado County.
The respective jurisdictions still need to approve the increases requested by South Tahoe Refuse. South Lake Tahoe City Council doesn’t have it on an agenda, though. The only December meeting is on the ninth when the new council is sworn in.
The rates are lower than the garage company originally requested. The independent review of STR’s proposal said to lower the increase in part because of a disagreement about increasing retirement benefits.
Also at Thursday’s meeting it was agreed that STR after the first of the year will survey customers about curbside recycling as well as other service issues.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Norma is involved….can’t be good for consumers. Personally I am not interested in a rate hike to pad their retirements.
It is hard to understand why with higher density neighborhoods and business clusters, closer proximity to the refuse facility, and other economies of scale that should result in lower per unit collection costs for city residents and businesses, that city rate increases were higher than for El Dorado county.
Let’s hope astute minds were involved in proper oversight of these increases, and that the higher city increases are not a result of higher taxes and fees that the city has agreed to.
Steve
Don’t forget, paid parking is gone and so the City wants/needs that 2.88 increase in their kickback from trash collection. That’s part of what the city council will say when agreeing to the increase.
Carson Pass & Steve, STR gets a rate increase automatically, it’s written into the contract with the city from a long time ago. The one thing that is negotiable, is the amount of the increase into your rates for garbage service.
I’ve been retired from STR for 5 years now. Towards the end of my carrer of 31 years there I took a loss of almost 100,000 dollars in my pension due to the crash on wall street. We were given limited options as where to invest.
Our retirement was funded 100 percent by STR. A generous deal to say the least! No matching funds from the worker!
So yes, I lost alot of money real fast after the crash. Things rebounded abit in the stock maket so I recovered some of my losses.
So in summation, I’ll say South Tahoe Refuse is a good family run company. Perfect? No. But then what is!
I don’t like payin’ a bigger garbage bill as my income is, shall we say, meager at best.
On a side note, on my liscence plate frame of my pick up, I had printed on the frame that goes around the plate, it said
“Garbagemen come early and make lottsa noise”. Get it? Take care, OLS
OLS: no, since you did not contribute, your retirement was funded by us, the rate payers
OLS,
Who was funding your retirement ? Rate payers ! You’re welcome.
Steven, As I recall STR paid 100 percent of the money into our pension plan with no matching funds from the employee. On the other hand, if you worked there and wanted a 401 k plan, the employee paid for it with no matching funds from STR. So I guess it kinda balanced out. Idon’t know if it’s still that way.
As I have previously stated, I no longer work there and am not a spokesman for STR and my recollection of these things may not be entirely correct.
Some of this was quite awhile ago,,but that’s how I remember it.
So yes, STR will get a rate increase and hopefully the people working there, in all the different departments, get a much needed bump in their wages.
A well run company (well at least it was utill I left…yuk, yuk! That was meant as joke by the way) and they provide excellent service!
So yeah garbage rates are going up, but you know what isn’t? Your income!
So good luck everyone cuz we’re gonna need it! What with spiraling costs and frozen wages, loss of jobs and a town that’s seeing more people leaving than moving in?
Oh well thats enough happinnes for today. OLS
OLS: do you recollect where that money STR paid into your retirement came from? us rate payers do.
If it is approved by the Council, we are talking .73 cents per month increase.
well the garbage and the people making the garbage are rising as well!! And there seems to be a rather small % of local residents that care about garbage produced per person. It is so hard sometimes to find ways to help cut down on what I personally have in volume of garbage–BUT–after a short time of actually NOT adding what has been routine for most of my life and eliminating some of the things that used to be created by me with garbage being the end result, I can actually see how much less I actually buy/and or throw away that has a one time use. I have half the trash I used to have on garbage day and weird thing–I am saving $ in the end.There is no savings on buying convienince and disposables–the rate increase is the proof–and the environment is the reason. Tahoe should be setting a stellar example of how people who care and understand a sustainable healthy community-an example for ALL Americans to see and want for themselves–we are so NOT that community–
Karen Smith, Yes, all people generate different amounts of garbage. My neighbors usually have 3 to 4 cans a week. Myself? Usually 1/2 to one full can a week. It’s all on how you shop and your lifestyle. I’ve been seeing this for a loooong time. 31 plus years at STR and ever since I was a kid helping with the the familiy motel business and other things we did around here.
On the Nevada side(stateteline to Spooner )they are billed per can, not a flat rate like here on So. Shore or Meyers where service is mandatory and an unlimited amount of trash is charged at a flat rate. 100 bags of pine needles costs the same as 1 bag of pine needles!!!
I hope my old crew gets a raise! They need it! OLS, (retired Old Garbage Man)
Hey, OLS! Those of us who leave a Christmas present for the guys every year want to know; Do our guys get to keep it, does it go into a pool, what happens??