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Mission Viejo council approves Waste Management rate increase; residential service up $1.50 per month
Summary
The City Council approved Waste Management—s annual rate adjustments effective July 1, 2025, raising automated three-cart residential service from $26.22 to $27.72 per month and increasing several commercial and roll-off rates; council cited contractual franchise provisions as the basis for the change.
The Mission Viejo City Council on June 8 approved Waste Management's annual standard rate adjustments, a staff-recommended change effective July 1, 2025, that raises the typical residential automated three-cart service from $26.22 to $27.72 per month.
Assistant City Engineer Hazel McIntosh summarized the adjustment during the council meeting, saying, "For fiscal year 'twenty five-'twenty six, the residential rate reached its 5% cap and has a 0.77% carryover for the next year." She told the council the commercial rate will rise 3.8% and roll-off rates will increase 4.22% under the standard formula that accounts for service cost changes, CPI, and disposal costs.
The staff report said Waste Management also requested a supplementary increase covering street-sweeping services provided by Street Sweeping Corps of America (formerly Sunset Street Sweeping). McIntosh said that change reflected higher prevailing wages for drivers and raised the contractor's per-mile rate from $23.35 to $27. That change increases the street-sweeping component of the monthly residential rate from $0.66 to $0.88, or about $0.19 more per customer per month according to staff estimates.
City staff and the city attorney determined the adjustment complied with section 10.7 of the franchise agreement between Mission Viejo and Waste Management, and the council voted to approve the item unanimously after staff presentation and a motion to adopt the recommended adjustments.
The action will take effect with the July 1 billing cycle. Council members emphasized that the adjustment follows contractual and formula-driven terms rather than a discretionary rate hike.
The council also approved the remainder of the consent calendar at the same meeting. Public comment that preceded the vote included concerns on unrelated issues such as fireworks and lighting, which the city addressed separately.
