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City updates residents on solid-waste transition as Republic Services overbilling is corrected
Summary
City staff reported a public‑outreach plan for the trash-service transition to Athens Services and disclosed that Republic Services mistakenly billed residents for Oct–Dec 2025; refunds are expected to begin mailing in early November and staff is coordinating to ensure service continuity.
The City of Whittier provided updates Oct. 28 on its transition of residential solid‑waste service and on a billing error by the outgoing contractor, Republic Services.
Speaking at the lectern, Vicky Martinez‑Muela described public outreach efforts and answered questions about trash pickup times near schools and the schedule for distributing new carts under the transition to Athens Services, which begins Nov. 1.
City Manager Conal McNamara told the Council that Republic Services mistakenly billed residents for three months of service (October through December 2025) even though its contract with the City terminates Oct. 31. McNamara said Republic acknowledged the error, is finalizing a billing reconciliation and expects refund checks to start mailing in early November. Republic is also providing data on the number of impacted customers, payments received and total refund amounts issued. City staff will continue coordinating with Republic and Athens Services to ensure reimbursements and avoid service disruptions during the transition.
The minutes note resident complaints and public inquiries about the overbilling; staff has not provided a total dollar figure in the meeting record and indicated refund totals and impacted customer counts are being finalized.
