Longview OK with higher rates to collect garbage, not to dump it at landfill - The Daily News

Longview OK with higher rates to collect garbage, not to dump it at landfill

The Longview City Council supported a 3% increase in the solid waste collection fees during its workshop Thursday but opposed an increase to the county landfill's tipping fees.

If the rate increase passes during a council meeting in March, the monthly waste collection rate for Longview residents would increase from $19.34 per ton to $19.92. There have been three rate increases since 2015, including another 3% increase approved in 2022.

Councilmembers went with one of the lowest increases the city could enact in order to keep the solid waste fund from losing money this year, based on the financial breakdowns in the workshop. City staff originally suggested a 6% increase.

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The council hoped Cowlitz County would not go ahead with a proposed increase to the landfill tipping fees to deal with increasing operating costs there.

Longview's council does not have a final say on the tipping costs at the county landfill. Those fees are decided by the county commissioners and the Solid Waste Governance Committee, an interlocal managing board that includes Longview City Manager Kris Swanson and representatives from Kelso and the county.

The biggest increase at the landfill would be for out-of-county residents, who would see their rate jump from $80 per ton to $120 under the current county proposal. For local residents the rate would increase from $55.82 per ton to $60. The county's last rate increase was done in 2019.