Bonney Lake, Buckley garbage fees increasing

This is part of a 2008 agreement with the company that runs Pierce County’s sole operating landfill.

By Ray Miller-Still • December 27, 2018 12:00 pm
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Bonney Lake’s new fee structure has been made public, but Buckley won’t know how their rates will rise until January 2019. File photo
Bonney Lake’s new fee structure has been made public, but Buckley won’t know how their rates will rise until January 2019. File photo

Come the new year, Bonney Lake residents will be paying more for water, sewer, and now, garbage collection.

In a Dec. 14 notice, the city will be increasing its solid waste collection rates by an average of 4.6 percent for residential customers, and 5.2 percent for commercial service, starting March 1, 2019.

The rates are going up because Pierce County is increasing their landfill dumping rates, according to a Dec. 4 DM Disposal letter to the city.

Pierce County’s rates are increasing from $157.38 per ton to $164.34 a ton, roughly a 4.4 percent increase, on March 1, DM’s District Manager Josh Metcalf wrote.

The average 4.6 increase is for services across the board, but that means your 2019 bills could be higher or lower.

For residential customers means those with a 10-gallon cart will now pay $16.90 a month, a 9 percent increase from last year; with a 20-gallon cart, $23.40 (12.5 percent increase); a 35-gallon cart, $29 (a nearly 13 percent increase); 65-gallon cart, $42.35 (13.6 percent increase); and a 95-gallon cart, $58.39 (a nearly 14 percent increase).

“The way our rates are structured, the larger service levels and the more frequent service levels bear a larger burden of the disposal increase,” Metcalf said in an interview. “In addition to that, being a good environmental steward, it’s an incentive to encourage recycling versus getting two or three 95-gallon carts and throwing everything in the trash.”

Additionally, those with yard waste service can expect to pay $6.74 a month, a 2.4 percent increase.

Ryan Dicks, Pierce County’s solid waste sustainability manager, said the rate increase is part of an agreement the county signed with LRI Services in 2008.

LRI operates the only currently active landfill in Pierce County, Dicks said.

“Most of this is cost of living adjustments, based on CPI (Consumer Price Index),” he continued, adding that a little of the adjustment is also accounted by collectors bringing in more compost.

The county agreement with LRI continues through 2030.

Buckley is also expected see an increase in their garbage collection fees, said City Administrator David Schmidt, since DM Disposal also hauls away their trash.

However, the city council will know what those adjustments will look like after the first of the year.

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