Trash Rates in City Likely to Rise by 4.31%

City residents will pay 4.31 percent more and businesses will pay 4.4 percent more for trash service beginning July 1 – mostly to pay for new waste diversion programs – if the Santa Clarita City Council OK’s new trash rates Tuesday.

State law requires municipalities to divert trash from landfills, and the City Council authorized some new programs in 2011 – including a Super Saver Program that provides financial incentives for increased recycling, smaller trash bins for homes and recycling carts for businesses, and abandoned-item removal from public rights of way.

The new programs add up to a 2.5-percent increase over the current rates charged by Waste Management (aka USA Waste of California Inc.) for residential customers and by Burrtec for commercial accounts.

The remaining 1.81 percent for Waste Management and 1.925 percent for Burrtec reflect standard cost increases that city staffers deem acceptable.

Under the exclusive hauling contracts originally signed in November 2003, trash rates can’t go up more than 6 percent per year.

Trash Rates in City Likely to Rise by 4.31%