Ratepayers in this SLO County town could see garbage bills rise by 97%: ‘Devastating’

Los Osos residents could see their garbage bills spike in April.

Mission Country Disposal, the company that collects waste in the North Coast community, applied to San Luis Obispo County to raise its rates by about 97%.

Ratepayers have until Tuesday to petition the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to deny the proposed rate increase.

One resident of Sea Oaks, a 55-and-up mobile home community in Los Osos, said paying for the increased rate will be “a real toughy.”

“This will have a devastating effect on many of us,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous to keep her financial situation private.

Currently, she qualifies for a low-income garbage pickup rate of about $13 a month.

If the county approves the Mission Country Disposal’s rate hike, her monthly bill could jump to $35, she said.

“It’s just one more thing,” the woman said. “I need to save every dime that I can because I have no one who’s going to take care of me when I can’t take care of myself.”

Why did garbage company apply for higher rates?

Every three years, Mission Country Disposal has the opportunity to apply to the county for rate adjustments.

In October 2021, the company applied to the county to increase rates by 45.93% for customers in the Los Osos Community Services District area, according to a San Luis Obispo County staff report.

After negotiating with SLO County and the Los Osos CSD, Mission Country Disposal submitted another application on Oct. 18 — this time for a base rate increase of 41.87%.

The base rate increase accounts for wage bumps for employees, spikes in insurance and gas costs, purchasing new vehicles, and higher costs for green waste processing, the staff report said.

Mission Country Disposal also imposed two temporary rate increases.

The first is a 7.7% bump to align rates with the Consumer Price Index for 2023, which accounts for inflation, the staff report said.

The second is a 48.04% increase from April to Dec. 31 to make up for lost revenue while Mission Country Disposal negotiated rates with the county and the district, the staff report said.

The three rate increases add up to a total increase of 97.61% for Los Osos ratepayers.

A customer who uses a standard 32-gallon garbage can would see their monthly waste removal bill will jump from $25.14 to $49.68 on April 1, the staff report said.

On Dec. 31, when the temporary rate increase is set to expire, the monthly rate would decrease to $38.41.

On Jan. 24, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors directed the county to mail Los Osos customers notices about the rate increases — which were distributed at least 45 days before the March 21 meeting, the staff report said.

According to a letter sent to ratepayers, low-income customers enrolled in PG&E or SoCalGas programs are “eligible for a reduced one-can rate.” The letter tells recipients to “contact the garbage company for details.”

When the Sea Oaks resident contacted Mission Country Disposal, she said, the receptionist told her it was a misprint and the company wouldn’t be able to offer her the reduced rate.

According to Proposition 218, the garbage company can’t use payments made by some ratepayers to subsidize rates for others, San Luis Obispo County Solid Waste Division Manager Mladen Bandov said.

Instead, the agency responsible for the franchise agreement with Mission Country Disposal must fund their own program to subsidize rates for low-income customers, Bandov said.

After the Board of Supervisors approves the new rates, the Los Osos CSD will become responsible for the franchise agreement — so it’s up to the CSD to create a program for low-income ratepayers, Bandov said.

“Of course, the CSD would like to offer a low-income assistance program,” Los Osos CSD General Manager Ron Munds told The Tribune via email. “The CSD will be trying to find alternate sources of revenue but there’s nothing identified at this time.”

Los Osos isn’t the only North Coast community faced with garbage collection rate hikes.

Customers in the Cambria Community Services District recently saw a sharp increase in its garbage rates. From Oct. 1, 2022 to April 1, the fee was about 62% higher than the original rate. On April 2, the rate will drop down to 42% above the original rate.

Los Osos residents object to rate increase

Los Osos resident Sharon Deos said she doesn’t mind paying for the base rate increase, but added that it’s unfair for the garbage company to charge ratepayers for profits lost during the negotiation process.

“I shouldn’t be paying for them to fiddle around,” Deos said. “If you can’t come to a decision, it’s not on me to pay for your delay.”

Deos had another gripe — this one with the way SLO County notified customers about the proposed rate hike.

Deos said her letter of notice was addressed to “current resident” and looked like a piece of junk mail.

“When I pick up a flier or a piece of mail that says ‘current resident,’ I think it’s nothing,” Deos said. “That’s misleading in and of itself.”

Deos said her dentist and her audiologist, who also live in Los Osos, told her that they didn’t notice their own letters of notice when they arrived in the mail.

“When you have someone who is more educated not looking at it, not understanding what it is, then it sends a lot of red flags to me that perhaps that wasn’t the best way to distribute this,” Deos said.

If folks don’t read the letter, Deos said, they won’t know how to protest the rates.

She said the garbage rates may be affordable on their own, but combined with the rising costs of rent, groceries, and gas, it’s too expensive — especially for retired folks living on a fixed income.

“Everything is so expensive, it comes to a point where it’s just overwhelming,” Deos said. “We’ve been good providers for society. We should not be spending the last years of our lives worrying about how we’re going to pay the bills.”

How to protest rate hikes

If 50% ratepayers plus one submit letters of protest to the county by Tuesday, the rate increase will be canceled, the staff report said.

As of Friday morning, the county had received 894 letters of protest, according to Annette Ramirez, the board’s deputy clerk.

That’s almost a third of the 2,704 letters required to cancel the rate increase.

Folks can mail or personally deliver their letter of protest to the Clerk of the Board, 1055 Monterey St., Suite D430, San Luis Obispo, CA 94308.

The Board of Supervisors will hear complaints about the rates at its Tuesday meeting.