Waste Management presents detailed cost report; board agrees to pass through county disposal increase

Waste Management representatives told the Klamath County Board of Commissioners that they are not seeking a company-wide rate increase this year, but will pass through a county disposal rate increase that affects only the disposal portion of customer bills.

Ben Herringen, district manager for Waste Management, and Tyler Mackey, the company's public-sector representative, explained the company’s detailed cost reports and the presence of some grandfathered rates from more than a decade ago. Mackey said Waste Management ran the numbers and does not request an additional rate increase beyond passing through a 13% county disposal rate increase that affects the disposal fraction of customer rates.

"We're not asking for any sort of additional rate increase this year," Mackey said. He added the 13% figure applies only to the county disposal component and therefore produces a smaller impact on total rates than 13%.

Commissioners said the passthrough increase appeared reasonable given recent landfill-cost changes and thanked company staff for efforts to limit customer impacts. The board indicated consensus approval to proceed; county staff noted the next step would be to process amendment number 8 and adopt a revised fee schedule through the county’s administrative (blue sheet) process.

Waste Management staff said the county disposal rate increase takes effect September 1 and that the company's requested change would be limited to passing that cost through to affected customers rather than raising company margins.