Some residential trash pickup customers in the Portland region could see their trash rates increase as part of Metro's proposed Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget.
In the proposed budget, ratepayers whose hauler uses Metro's waste transfer stations could see their rates increase by 27 cents a month in the coming fiscal year. Ratepayers who live in an area where haulers use independent transfer stations would see their trash rates increase 8 cents per month.
Rates charged to waste haulers went up by 25 cents per residential customer last year. It's up to cities to decide whether rates are adjusted to match Metro's fee increases.
The rate increase is paid by trash haulers, who pay a "tip fee" to enter waste into the disposal system managed by Metro. That tip fee is increasing by $4.31 per ton of garbage.
About $1.80 of that increase is because of inflation and higher gas prices. Another 64 cents are part of a payout to the contractor that hauls waste to the Columbia Ridge landfill in Arlington; because the region is producing less than 475,000 tons of garbage a year, Metro must pay the contractor $263,000. (When the region makes more than 500,000 tons, Metro receives a rebate.)
Other components of the rate increase include an increase in the region's solid waste excise tax (39 cents per ton), an accounting adjustment (78 cents per ton) and administrative costs related to rebuilding the Metro website (24 cents per ton).
The Metro Council is set to consider the proposed rate increases at its Thursday meeting.