Thurston County solid-waste rate study proposes two-step increase to avoid deeper shortfalls

Josiah Close, a consultant with HDR Engineering, presented a preliminary rate study to the Thurston County Solid Waste Advisory Committee showing the county’s solid-waste utility has not updated rates since 2012 and has seen cumulative inflation of roughly 39–40%. Close said the study is informational and “this won’t be an action item for today.”

The consultant recommended a two-year rate adjustment and use of some reserves to smooth the impact on customers. “The current garbage tip fee [is] $119 a ton,” Close said, and the draft proposal would raise the systemwide tip fee to $136 per ton for 2026 and $154 per ton for 2027. Close told the committee the study also proposes raising the county’s self-haul minimum from $18 (under 300 pounds) to $21 in 2026 and by another $2 in 2027, and increasing the organics (yard/garden) charge to $75 in 2026 and $90 in 2027.

Why it matters: the study ties the proposed increases to two budget realities: long-term deferred capital needs and climbing operating costs. Close told the committee the utility faces roughly $41.5 million in capital projects over the next five years, led in the near term by a planned site reconfiguration and, in later years, the…