By Rich Pollack
Highland Beach residents, who have enjoyed low rates for garbage pickup for at least 10 years, will see a huge jump in their bills this month.
In May, town commissioners reluctantly signed off on a new five-year contract with Waste Management Inc. of Florida that will boost rates for single-family and small multifamily homes by 82% and for individual condo owners by 69%.
Single-family homes and multifamily homes with under four units will see the rate go from close to $16 a month to just less than $30.
Condo rates will increase from $10.30 per month to $17.46.
The large bump, said Town Manager Marshall Labadie, is the result of the relatively low rate that residents have paid under a favorable 2014 contract that increased only 3% a year since 2019.
“What we had was a bit of a sweetheart deal,” Labadie said.
To help reduce the financial impact, Highland Beach cut its administrative fee — which covers the cost of billing and revenue collection — from 12% to 5%.
“Because the increase was so high, we did everything we could to mitigate costs to residents,” Labadie said.
One of the sticking points in the new contract, for at least one member of the Town Commission, was the annual increases it includes.
Under the new contact, the cost of garbage pickup will increase 7% a year for the next five years with a two-year optional renewal. That means the bill for single-family and small multifamily homes will grow by 2027 to $38.19 and for condos to $22.87.
That portion of the contract drew some pushback from Vice Mayor David Stern, who thinks the agreement doesn’t reflect a potential drop in the cost of living from the current high rate.
Stern said he would have liked to see the agreement stay at 7% for the first two years and then drop back to the cost of living for the remainder of the period.
He also expressed concern about the large initial increase, saying he thought it would have been better to spread that over the term of the contract.
“My concern is that we have a jump in price that in my opinion is excessive,” he said. “Highland Beach had a very good arrangement, and what they did is put us at a par with others in one shot.”
Stern praised the town for its efforts to negotiate a deal that would be more favorable to residents and recognized that there was little room for give and take. The town had put its garbage contract out for bid and got only two responses, with the one from Waste Management being the more reasonable.
Speaking to the commission in April, Barbara Herrera of Waste Management’s government affairs team said that much of the price increase was due to labor issues and supply-chain concerns.
“It’s very difficult to hire individuals who want to work on a rear-load truck,” she said, adding that many applicants would rather drive the truck and remain in the air-conditioned cab than work in the heat.
With that in mind, she said, the company has increased wages and benefits including college tuition assistance for employees and some family members.
She said maintenance costs have also increased, with the company having to pay more for qualified mechanics.
The collection schedule will stay the same under the agreement. Waste Management will collect solid waste twice a week from single-family homes and twice a week from condo and small multifamily units, with the condo trash collection expanding to three times a week from Nov. 1 to May 31.
The company will also pick up yard trash and bulk trash twice a week from single-family, small multifamily homes and condos. Recyclables will be collected twice a week from condos and once a week from single-family homes and small multifamily units.
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