Tarentum to solicit garbage haulers after Waste Management price increase

Tarentum will be looking for prices from other garbage haulers after Waste Management proposed increasing the rate it charges the borough, according to borough Manager Michael Nestico.

“We want to see what options we have here,” he said. “Council was initially hopeful to keep Waste Management. They like the service they’re getting.”

The borough’s agreement with Waste Management runs out at the end of the year.

Tarentum included a 35% increase in its 2020 budget for garbage collection, from about $277,000 to nearly $375,000, based on a November proposal from Waste Management, Nestico said.

The borough is charged per ton, and how much the borough pays varies based on how much garbage is collected.

Despite that, the borough was not planning to increase what residents pay per month, which is $22 for unlimited pickup, he said. The borough last increased the residential garbage rate at the start of 2018.

The borough also did not increase the property tax rate under its $9.6 million 2020 budget. The rate remains 5.48 mills.

Waste Management initially gave a three-year proposal that included a 6.6% increase in the per-ton rate it charges the borough in 2020, increasing it from about $165 in 2019 to about $176 next year, according to Nestico. It would then increase another 3.5% to about $182 in 2021 and another 3.5% to about $188 in 2022.

Nestico said the borough asked the company to reconsider, and it came back with a new three-year proposal that would leave the per-ton rate unchanged for 2020 but included the same rates in the second and third years.

As proposed, the borough’s per-ton rate would remain about $165 for 2020. It would increase by about 10% to about $182 for 2021, and then by another 3.5% to about $188 in 2022.

“We were kind of hoping the three-year extension would come back favorable,” he said. “We believe it’s a bit high.”

Waste Management spokeswoman Erica Deyarmin-Young said in an email, “We appreciate our relationship with Tarentum Borough and look forward to continuing discussions with them.”

Nestico said the borough will ask other haulers for proposals. He could not say when a decision will be made, but he said it will be a priority over the next few months.

In the meantime, Nestico said the borough is talking with Waste Management about continuing on a month-to-month basis.