Covington OKs 12-year collection contract with Republic Services; residents to see expanded services, modest rate rise

Covington City Council on May 27 authorized the city manager to execute a comprehensive garbage, recycling and compostables collection contract with Republic Services covering July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2038.

The contract, presented to council by Jeanette Jurgensen of Bin There Consulting, keeps many existing services while adding annual bulky-item pickup, on-call cardboard collection for moves, expanded storm-debris response and new performance provisions. "The residential 32-gallon cart customer can expect about a 13% increase," Jurgensen said during the presentation, noting the figure excludes recycling-processing fees.

Why this matters: the agreement sets collection rules, service levels and rates for single-family, multifamily and commercial customers for the next dozen years and includes implementation steps meant to limit service…