Los Angeles officials move to raise solid-waste fees for first time in 17 years to cover organics and operating shortfall

Los Angeles City Council committees on Monday advanced a proposal from LA Sanitation and Environment (LA San) to raise the city—s solid-waste fees for the first time since 2008, saying long-term cost increases and a state organics mandate have left the bureau reliant on roughly $200 million a year in general-fund support.

Barbara Romero, director and general manager of LA Sanitation and Environment, told the joint Energy and Environment and Public Works committees that the bureau has kept the same solid-resources fee for 17 years and that rising labor, fuel, equipment and organics-processing costs have forced the agency to dip into the general fund. "We have not had a rate increase for 17 years," Romero said, adding that the bureau—s projected operating cost for 2025 is about $555,000,000 and that the general-fund subsidy has grown into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The bureau hired HF&H Consultants to perform a Prop 218-compliant cost-of-service study, Sarai Baga, LA San—s chief financial officer, said. The consultant, Rick Simonson, summarized the study—s rationale: because state law and implementing rules require every dwelling unit access to three separate containers (refuse, recycling and organics), the bureau proposes a single base rate for all dwelling units…