Republic Services seeks 6.5% rate increase after higher disposal fees and two years of inflation

Republic Services of Southern Oregon told the Crook County Board of Commissioners on April 8 that it needs a 6.5% rate increase to cover rising costs.

Erica Heitzma, general manager for Republic Services’ Pineville Hall division, reviewed the company’s 2025 financials, saying revenue was $2,970,000 and total operating costs were $2,674,000. She said disposal costs rose to $581,000 — a year‑over‑year increase of roughly 20.5% — driven by a landfill rate increase and an increase in tonnage. Other cost drivers included labor, equipment operating costs and depreciation tied to three new collection vehicles.

Dan Strandy, Republic’s finance manager for the Central Oregon market, said the company’s projection allocates about 1 percentage point of the 6.5% ask to landfill disposal increases and roughly 0.8 percentage points to labor adjustments; the remainder reflects general CPI‑type inflation accumulated over the past two years. He said the projection was prepared in February and does not incorporate very recent global oil‑price volatility.

Strandy said the company set franchise margin assumptions to yield a post‑tax margin near historic municipal norms and that the 6.5% request is intended to keep margins in an acceptable range.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions and said they had no further data requests for staff before the item returns for a public meeting next week. The board indicated the matter would not be placed on the consent agenda and would be brought back for formal consideration at the public meeting.

The board did not take a final vote at the work session; Republic Services will present again at the regular meeting next week.