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Scappoose council approves Waste Management CPI increase, effective Aug. 1
Summary
The Scappoose City Council approved an annual CPI-based rate increase from Waste Management and set an Aug. 1 effective date with at least 30 days' customer notice; one councilor opposed.
Scappoose — The City Council approved Waste Management’s requested annual cost-of-living increase for residential garbage and recycling service and set the change to take effect Aug. 1, giving the company at least 30 days to notify customers.
Waste Management public sector manager Dave Huber told the council the request is the CPI increase allowed under the franchise agreement and “equates to a 4.792% increase” in rates, driven primarily by higher disposal fees at the Columbia County transfer station and general inflationary pressures.
The council debated whether to delay a vote to collect comparative rate data from nearby jurisdictions, particularly St. Helens and Vernonia, and whether an earlier public notice window should be required. City Manager Ben Burgener and others told the council the franchise agreement explicitly allows an annual CPI adjustment “in lieu of a formal rate review,” but the council can still request a full rate review if it wants more detailed comparables.
Councilor Jacobs moved to approve the CPI increase with an effective date of Aug. 1 and directed Waste Management to provide at least 30 days’ notice to residents; Councilor Haugen seconded the motion. The motion passed; the transcript records one councilor opposed but does not identify that member by name.
Huber told the council the average residential 35-gallon customer bill would rise from $26.10 to $27.35 — about $1.25 per month — under the increase. Council members asked Waste Management to provide comparative rate tables for nearby cities and counties and to return with that information for future review.
The council also discussed timing with Columbia County’s annual disposal-rate decision (typically effective July 1) and agreed the city would try to align its process so future CPI adjustments could be more precisely calibrated to county disposal fees.
The council vote did not include a detailed roll call in the meeting transcript; the motion outcome is recorded as approved with one opposition noted.
