Santa Paula to study Athens Services rate request after company cites citrus quarantine and Del Norte fee spikes

Athens Services asked the Santa Paula City Council on Aug. 5 to approve a two-part rate adjustment after the company said it absorbed large, unexpected disposal and organic-processing costs. Athens told council staff that those costs — roughly $257,000 tied to increased disposal (“tip”) fees and about $341,000 annually tied to a California Department of Food and Agriculture citrus quarantine — had driven the request. Council did not approve the increases that night; instead it created an ad hoc committee to examine the fiscal impact and return recommendations.

Athens’ vice president of government affairs, Rhondy Guthrie, told the council the citrus quarantine forced Athens to take organics to a farther facility, raising “labor, fuel, maintenance, and disposal” costs and producing an estimated $341,000 annual impact. Guthrie said Del Norte recycling and disposal fees also rose sharply and that Athens’ preferred alternative destinations were either unavailable or more…