Trash bills will be going up for residents of unincorporated Brevard County, under a plan county commissioners have approved. The 4.8 percent increase in residential rates for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 will help the county maintain a reserve in its solid waste account for cleanup from future storms and other “catastrophic events.”
That account was depleted by cleanup of vegetation, fences, docks and other debris after Hurricane Matthew last October.
County commissioners voted 4-1 last week to approve the rate increase, which raises the annual residential base rate by $6.15 — from the current $128.21 to $134.36. About 97,000 residential accounts in unincorporated Brevard are affected.
Commissioner Kristine Isnardi voted against the proposal. During commission discussion of the issue, Isnardi said “4.8 percent is still too high of an increase.”
Commissioners emphasized during their debate that it is not trash hauler Waste Management Inc. that will directly benefit from this rate increase, because the money generated by the increase is designated for the county’s storm reserves.
“This is not Waste Management’s rate increase,” Isnardi said. “This is on us as a county. It’s about our reserves.”
Contractors other than Waste Management are responsible for the pickup and disposal of storm debris.
For the five subsequent budget years, the County Commission approved rate increases tied to increases in the Consumer Price Index for the southern United States — with a maximum increase in any one year of 3 percent.
During a public hearing before the vote, commissioners heard from five local residents, who criticized either the proposed rate increase or some aspect of Waste Management’s service.
Jean Paul Morin of Merritt Island told commissioners he is “against any tax increase. Please stop lowering my standard of living. If you keep taxing, I will have to sell my home because I won’t be able to maintain it.”
Karl Krupp of Mims called the rate increases “uncalled for.”
Commissioner John Tobia came up with the plan that commissioners approved, after Brevard County Solid Waste Management Department Director Euripides Rodriguez in May raised the possibility of a rate increase of as much as 24.8 percent to build up solid waste hurricane reserve.
Tobia said there was little else the county could do, other than the 4.8 percent increase, because former county commissioners approved an “offensively horrible contract” with Waste Management. Then, Tobia said, those commissioners opted against approving smaller rate increases in the early years of the contract that could have helped maintain the county’s solid waste storm reserves.
“I don’t blame Waste Management. I blame the County Commission.” Tobia said, referring to commissioners who no longer are in office.
Under the plan commissioners approved, the county’s solid waste storm reserves will dip to $1.4 million by the end of the current contract with Waste Management in 2023, Rodriguez said.
To read the full story, visit http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2017/08/28/brevard-commissioners-ok-4-8-rate-hike-residential-trash-bills/606046001/.