Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Businesses whose trash the county picks up from large rented containers on their premises will soon be getting a notice informing them of a proposed rate increase for the pick-up service.
Robbie Slack, director of the Jefferson County Solid Waste Department, recently told the Jefferson County Commission that his operation could no longer afford to continue providing the service at the current rates.
Slack told the board that he had been shocked to learn that the rates hadn’t been changed since 2004, despite that the increasing costs of fuel, labor and materials, especially of late.
“Our prices are too cheap,” Slack said. “Right now, we’re not covering our costs.”
The department, he said, was charging $100 to haul away a load that was costing it $200 to dispose of. The result, he said, was that the department’s budget was going into the red.
“There’s no doubt about it,” Slack said. “We’re hurting.”
His competitors in the private sector, he said, were charging more than twice what the county was charging. Not that the two were in the same game, Slack said, noting that the private sector’s purpose was to make a profit, whereas the county’s was to provide a service. Still, the county needed at minimum to recoup its cost, he said.
The proposal calls for raising the commercial rates as follows, not including the charge for the delivery and set-up of the containers, the daily rental fee and any tipping fee that may apply:
“Our objective is to cover our cost,” Slack said. “We’re not trying to make a profit. But right now, we’re basically giving away these services and we’re going into the red.”
Several of the commissioners were for implementing the proposed rate hikes effective immediately.
Commissioner Chris Tuten, for one, said the department couldn’t afford to continue bleeding.
“We have to do something, cause we can’t keep prices as they are,” Tuten said. “Right now, we ‘re going into the red.”
Commissioner J. T. Surles was of a like mind. He noted that in his private business, he dealt with a lot of freight charges. And typically, he said, he got notices of increases after the fact.
“They say, ‘hey by the way, the price of gas has gone up and here is what you pay,’” Surles said.
Commissioner Stephen Walker, however, convinced the board it would be more prudent to notify the businesses of the commission’s intention ahead of time and so give them a chance to express any concerns they might have before the new rates kicked in.
The commission has scheduled the proposed rate increase for a discussion and expected adoption at its evening meeting on Thursday, July 7.
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