dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – City residents could be looking at paying a bit more to throw stuff away, as City Council takes up an ordinance at its Dec 3 meeting to raise trash rates.
The hike – $2.43 per month for Republic Services residential pickup and 4.17% for commercial service – first came before Council in January but was never approved.
Republic’s General Manager Tom Berry explained what’s going on to Council at its Tuesday Committee of the Whole meeting (where members discuss business but take no action).
The hike is tied to the operation of the Mountaineer Transfer Station at Morgantown Industrial Park, he said. It had been operating at a $1 million annual loss.
So Republic applied with the state Public Service Commission for a rate hike in October 2023, and the PSC approved it on Nov. 1, 2023. PSC examined the numbers and set the figures: $2.43 and 4.17%.
The increase, he said, has been passed to all of its customers across its area footprint, but not to Morgantown residents. Morgantown is served under a private municipal contact and the PSC can’t force a pass-through to the city.
So Republic began negotiations with the city and met with Council in January 2024.
“There were service issues that were brought up at the time,” he said, so they set up monthly meetings starting in March to improve handling of the issues. And while service issues are linked to transfer station operations costs, he said, Republic kept up meetings with the city.
Since then, the station has taken another $250,000 in losses, he said. So he and a couple colleagues appeared on Tuesday to try to move forward.
Council member Danielle Trumble noted that Republic was pursuing this rate hike with the PSC at the same time the county was approving a five-year contract with Republic that already included a rate hike, and wondered why this wasn’t brought up then.
“I can’t fathom that you all did not anticipate when we signed that contract that this additional increase was going to be requested and that it never came up during our negotiations.”
Berry said Republic is regulated and can’t anticipate what the PSC might do with a filing.
Trumble said she still gets a lot of complaints about Republic service from South Park and Greenmont. “I’m still getting a lot of complaints and I’m just not sure there’s a great will from Morgantown residents to pay more for the service they’re receiving.”
Council member Brian Butcher said the PSC pretty much approves every rate hike request it receives. “What we have to justify to people is why are you increasing our rates again when we don’t like our trash service. I can’t really justify that.”
He asked Berry how Republic was able to absorb the $250,000 loss and what will happen if it continues.
Berry said the just took the loss without making cuts elsewhere. The city manager knew of the filing back in 2023; it wasn’t done in secret.
And he can’t say, in the long run, if they could continue to operate at a loss and keep the station open. If it did close, trash would have to go out of state and he doesn’t know what would happen with recycling handled at the station.
Council member Jenny Selin said she will vote in favor of the increase. Companies that provide services need to recuperate their costs.
The ordinance will be on first reading at the Dec. 3 meeting.
