MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A letter of protest over garbage disposal rates in Monongalia County will be sent to the State Public Service Commission (PSC).
The letter was formally filed by the Monongalia County Commission in response to a notice that Allied Waste Services of North America will raise rates for both recycling and waste disposal services related to the Mountaineer Transfer Station. Rates that were discussed by the commission during their meeting Wednesday showed increases of as much as fifty percent, and with the significant jump, other municipalities are being encouraged to file similar complaints.
“This would give us the authority to object to that formally, and that’s what the proposal is for, and I would move that we move forward in filing a written protest to do that,” said Commissioner Jeff Arnett ahead of the letter’s unanimous approval by the commission.
Notice of the rate changes was received by the commission from residents who saw a public notice from the Republic Services affiliate that showed the rates would be increased at an undisclosed time. This was considered a major concern by the commission based on contracts in place for the county to provide waste disposal services, which have already been accounted for in the 2023–24 fiscal year budget. This would be further complicated if the fifty percent increases in recyclable disposal and over seventy percent increases in regular waste disposal stay in place.
“Again, one of our major concerns is that if this goes into effect, we have already made the budget for next year for recycling and other payments, and this would be added without us being prepared for it,” said Commission President Tom Bloom.
According to the commission, the letter of protest that will be submitted to the Public Service Commission will call for not only an explanation for the rate increases but also an updated time frame on when the new rates will be implemented. Commissioner Jeff Arnett mentioned several issues regarding the sudden rate change, not only how it would affect the Monongalia County budget but also how it goes against formal procedure regarding rate increases in the middle of the fiscal year.
“At a minimum, it would be prudent for any increase, if it were passed by the PSC, to be put into effect at the start of the next fiscal year,” said Arnett. “So that departments, not just ours, could adequately budget for that,” he said.
If the rates move forward as planned, it will continue a trend for Allied Waste Services of North America and the rest of the Republic Services affiliates that already saw a near five percent increase implemented at the start of 2023. The next move for the commission is to hear feedback from the Public Service Commission and to inform local municipalities in case similar changes are seen for their contracted services.
“Seventy percent increase in one area and fifty-nine percent increase in another, so we’re just very concerned, and we hope the cities will also follow suit,” he said.