The Salinas City Council on Tuesday, April 21 approved an annual increase in garbage and recycling fees and gave the go-ahead to city staff to explore shifting responsibility for street sweeping services back to the city.
The average rate increase — 3.73% for single-family homes (or $1.36), 3.76% for multi-family residential units, such as apartment buildings and condominiums and 3.89% for commercial customers — was proposed by Republic Services, which provides solid waste, recycling and green waste services in the city.
The monthly bill also includes fees by other entities, ReGen Monterey and Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority. The only rate that Republic Services can directly adjust is for collection which covers the provider’s operational costs such as labor, equipment, and fuel, according to the staff report, and is capped at 4% per annum.
This means for residential customers, the fee will go from $36.46 to $37.82, according to the staff report. Depending on the type of service for multi-family dwellings, the fee can go from $36.46 to $37.82 for curbside, $56.46 to $58.63 for consolidated carts and $569.16 to $590.74 for a 3-cubic yard garbage bin.
The new rates will become effective July 1, the beginning of the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
The City of Salinas entered into a 15-year franchise agreement with Republic Services starting Oct. 1, 2021, and ending Sept. 30, 2036, with an option to extend for an additional five years. Republic Services pays the city a 15% franchise fee on gross revenues, according to the staff report.
As part of that agreement, Republic Services administers street sweeping services through a third-party provider. The council’s action will enable city staff to explore resuming responsibility for those services. What exactly that would entail has not been determined at this early stage, said the city’s public information officer, Sophia Rome.
Issues relating to quality of service in regard to street sweeping services were raised by the public and councilmembers at the Tuesday meeting.
“There are some issues going on with street sweeping,” said Salinas City Councilman Aurelio Salazar. Complaints about inadequate notification or missing signage meant parked cars impeded the street sweeper and overhanging branches blocked its work in other neighborhoods. One speaker said the streetsweeper failed to pick up debris and just moved dirt around.
Representative for District 5, Andrew Sandoval, who provided the sole dissenting vote in the 5 to 1 decision said the council has heard consistent concerns about Republic Services, especially with street sweeping. Councilman Jose Luis Barajas was absent from the meeting.
“I’ve personally seen trash left behind and equipment not functioning properly, and residents have even told me it sometimes makes conditions worse, not better,” Sandoval said, adding that before approving any rate increase the company should be “held to account” and if the contractor isn’t performing, that “needs to be fixed first.”
Resuming street sweeping responsibilities would provide the “city more flexibility and ability to respond in a timely manner to address resident concerns, as well as to help with other efforts, like the no parking — street sweeping pilot program,” per the staff report.
Residents can view their street sweeping route and schedule by inputting their address in a website portal.
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Salinas City Council approves garbage collection rate increase
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
