Board to Set Hearing on Proposed Hikes to Rubbish Collection Rates

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors is slated today to set a
public hearing for May on a series of proposed hikes to trash collection fees
throughout Riverside County's unincorporated communities, where collection
costs would rise about 3% per customer under the haulers' new rate plans.
  

The Department of Environmental Health is seeking across-the-board
adjustments that all of the county's trash collectors -- Burrtec Waste, CR&R
Inc. and Desert Valley Disposal and Waste Management Inc. -- want to
incorporate into their current contracts with the county.
  

Environmental Health Director Jeff Johnson is asking for a hearing on
May 20. Johnson said the adjustments are necessary to keep pace with inflation.
The waste haulers are permitted to seek rate adjustments every year based on
rising landfill, transportation and other costs.
  

The board rarely denies adjustment requests. However, in 2020, then-
Supervisor Kevin Jeffries opposed increases, arguing that financial hardships
tied to the COVID lockdowns made it an inopportune time to hike fees on county
residents. The increases were approved despite his opposition.
  

The Burrtec hike would boost customers' monthly rates from an average
$30.12 to $31.09.
  

Residents serviced by CR&R would see their bills go from between
$35.49 and $37.13, to between $36.53 and $38.22.
  

Desert Valley Disposal customers would go from paying an average
$36.72 to $37.78, and Waste Management's new fee structure would increase from
between $34.71 and $36.80, to between $35.73 and $37.88 per month for
residential collections, according to the Department of Environmental Health.
  

In some cases, fees would increase beyond the averages under so-called
``hard-to-reach'' service plans, which apply when properties are especially
remote.
  

Waste collection for the county occurs in defined ``franchise areas,''
which currently number 11 and encompass communities such as Bermuda Dunes,
Cabazon, Desert Center, East Hemet, French Valley, Lakeland Village, Nuevo,
Thermal, Thousand Palms and Winchester. Most of the existing franchise
agreements have been in place since the 1990s.
  

If approved at the public hearing in May, when any county resident can
speak on the proposed increases, the new fees would take effect on July 1.
  

Copyright 2025, City News Service, Inc.