Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bonney Lake council hears Murrays Disposal request for a 4.83% rate increase; B&O tax pass-through discussed
Summary
Council members heard from staff that Murrays Disposal has asked to pass through a 4.83% increase tied to a contract CPI clause and to pass on a state-imposed B&O tax; councilors noted the existing 10-year contract (runs to 2032) limits the city's ability to block CPI-based increases but said the separate B&O pass-through could be declined.
City staff and councilors on Feb. 10 reviewed a request from Murrays Disposal to adjust residential and commercial garbage rates under a long-term contract provision.
Deputy Mayor Saltman said the company is requesting a 4.83% increase under a contract clause that allows annual CPI pass-through. Saltman noted the council previously approved a 10-year contract that effectively allows the company to pass CPI-based changes to ratepayers.
"As their wonderful contract the council previously passed guarantees them a complete pass through with the CPI to your rate payers," Deputy Mayor Saltman said, describing the contractual language that limits the councils ability to deny index-based increases.
Councilors and staff discussed estimated customer impacts. Saltman and other council members relayed figures mentioned in the meeting: estimates ranged from fractions of a dollar per month (for typical residential cans) up to larger amounts for commercial accounts. Discussion included a separate state B&O tax that the company said it intended to pass through; council members said the council could choose whether to accept that particular pass-through even if CPI adjustments are contractually automatic.
Councilors asked for further detail and said the topic would return for full-council discussion next week rather than being decided immediately. No formal vote on the rate change or the B&O pass-through was recorded at the Feb. 10 meeting.
Why this matters: the request would increase costs for residential and commercial customers if passed through; the council emphasized the limits of its authority when a long-term contract grants CPI pass-through but retained discretion over the separate B&O tax pass-through.
Next steps: staff will bring more detailed figures and options back to a future meeting for further council consideration.
