Garbage rates to increase in Crook County

Published 5:00 am Thursday, April 7, 2005

About 1,500 Crook County residents living outside the Prineville city limits will see their trash collection rates rise by $1 to $4 after the recent merger of two garbage collection companies in the area.

Gary Goodman, owner of Prineville Disposal, recently bought out his competitor, Crook County Disposal. Crook County Disposal had been offering garbage service to about 1,000 residents living in the county. Both companies are now under the name Prineville Disposal.

”They decided that it was not efficient to continue overlapping routes,” Goodman said. ”We knew that all along.”

Goodman said Prineville Disposal is raising rates for 1,500 customers in the county that it had been serving prior to the merger. Their fees will now match what Crook County Disposal had been charging. Customers who had been with Crook County Disposal are not expected to see a rate increase at this time, he said.

The customers facing the rate hike are scattered throughout the county, Goodman said.

Goodman said it’s the first time since November 1996 that Prineville Disposal has raised its rates in either the city or the county.

The company has to increase its service charges to account for rising diesel prices and higher landfill fees, he said.

The rates are increasing for weekly, bi-monthly and monthly pickup service and should go into effect starting in June.

For example:

* Customers who own their garbage can and set it out curbside will see their fee go up from $9 to $10 a month for weekly pickup service, according to the new price schedule.

* Customers who use a 35-gallon rolling garbage can provided by Prineville Disposal and who set it out curbside will now pay $11 a month – or a dollar more – for weekly service.

* People who don’t place their 35-gallon garbage cans curbside will see their fee jump from $11.80 to $14 a month for weekly service.

* Commercial businesses are also expected to face higher prices. For instance, those who use a 1-cubic-yard container – the smallest Dumpster available – will pay $62, or $14 more a month for weekly service, Goodman said.

Weekly service is not available to residents and businesses located farther than 13 miles from the center of Prineville. It will only be available on a monthly or bi-monthly service for customers using a 65-gallon or bigger rolling garbage can, the new price schedule shows.

The company is also eliminating bin service to people who live in outlying areas, instead offering rolling garbage cans.

Recycling service will be available to customers who live outside the city limits.

As a result of the merger, the Crook County Court gave Prineville Disposal an exclusive franchise to haul garbage for county residents and businesses. The company also has a franchise with the city of Prineville and is now the sole garbage collection company for both the city and the county.

As a stipulation of the franchise, Prineville Disposal can only raise its rates once a year and it can’t be more than the consumer price index, said Crook County Judge Scott Cooper.

Cooper said as part of granting the franchise, the county also capped Prineville Disposal’s profit margin on county services at 12 percent to keep collection rates in check.

Prineville Disposal has to pay the county 3 percent of its annual gross revenue as a franchise fee, the same percentage it pays the city, Goodman said. He estimated the company would pay the county about $12,000 a year.

Cooper said the money would be used to offset disposal costs for community-wide cleanups and to pay for yearly audits of Prineville Disposal.

Ernestine Bousquet can be reached at 541-504-2336 or at ebousquet@bendbulletin.com.

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