Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Waste authority approves rate increases
Danville to see 4% jump in fees

by Geoff Gillette

Trash pickup in Danville is going to cost a bit more starting next month, following action by the Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority. At its Jan. 29 meeting, the CCSWA approved rate increases ranging from 4 percent in Danville to 9 percent in Lafayette.

Danville Town Councilman Mike Shimansky, who serves as chairman for the CCSWA, said that the increases came after the authority reviewed its contract with Allied Waste.

"This is the fifth year we are reviewing our rates," Shimansky said. "Every agency that's involved redid their rates and Danville raised theirs 4 percent. That's the lowest amount of all the cities involved."

The increase will mean that residents will be paying $17 per month for the waste hauling service. This is a median figure historically for Danville, with the highest rate in the past 15 years being $21.75 in 1993 and the lowest being $11.50 in 1996.

The increases approved by the authority came from the municipalities themselves. Danville council members discussed the rates at the Nov. 18 meeting and approved the 4 percent increase on a 4-1 vote. Shimansky was the lone No vote.

"We raised the rates so we could have a surplus and a reserve. I didn't believe that under the economic circumstances that we needed a reserve," he explained.

Other council members argued that having a slight increase now means that any other increases would also be small, rather than hitting the town with a large scale increase down the road.

Shimansky and the other members of the authority voted unanimously in favor of the increases at their January meeting. He explained that once the council made its decision, he as a representative of the council needed to vote as the council did.

The new rates will take effect March 1.

Of the members of the solid waste authority, Orinda has the highest rate at $27.35 per month and Walnut Creek the lowest at $15.90. Shimansky said Orinda's rates are high due to the narrow winding roads in the town and Walnut Creek's residential rates are lower because it is able to subsidize some of its residential rates through its commercial waste hauling fees.

Residents looking to save money on their waste fees can opt to use a smaller size bin for their pickup. The $17 monthly fee is for pickup of the standard 32-gallon blue bins. Reducing the size to a 20-gallon "minicart" would drop the monthly cost for waste pickup to $14.74.