After debate, council approves Republic Services rate increase to about $20 a month for one year extension

The council voted after a long public and council debate to approve Republic Services’ request for a one‑year extension that includes an additional price increase the company requested for the 2026 contract year. The company had asked for a 10.5% increase above the 3.5% contractual annual escalation, which would have moved the residential curbside service from $17.67 to approximately $20.14 per month.

Sadiq Young, general manager for Republic Services’ North Phoenix market, said the company absorbed many cost increases during the pandemic years and used the contractual 3.5% annual escalator to spread those increases. He told council that transportation, truck parts and maintenance, and labor costs rose substantially over recent years and that, if the company were required to reprocure service in a compressed time frame, an open RFP could result in even higher prices. “Over the last 5 years, our cost for transportation in our business have increased by 43.1%,” Young said, and presented a municipal comparison showing many nearby jurisdictions paying $25–$36 per month for a similar two‑collection pattern.

Opponents on council and several residents argued the town should run a timely RFP instead of approving an increase and questioned the grants Republic provides to town organizations as a separate corporate program. Supporters — including the town manager and some council members — said an immediate RFP under the compressed timeframe could be operationally risky and could lead to higher prices or service interruption. The council debated whether to exclude corporate grant programs from rate calculations; an amendment to force exclusion failed.

After several procedural motions and amendments the council approved the extension and rate adjustment. The final council tally on the extension (as recorded in the meeting minutes) was 5–2 in favor. Staff said that if the council had not approved the extension, the town would have had to open an immediate request for proposals with risk of higher rates or service disruption; with approval the town keeps the current vendor under an extension and gains a longer planning horizon to conduct an orderly RFP process in 2026–27.

Councilmembers asked staff to present a clearer line‑item comparison (with and without corporate grant programs) at a future meeting and to start RFP planning in the next 12 months so the town is ready for a broader procurement cycle in 2027.