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Trash Fees May Go Up 6.4%

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: December 3, 2008

Trash hauling fees for Pasco County homeowners could go up to $12.44 a month, if county commissioners approve an increase proposed Tuesday morning.

The increase will be considered again at a public hearing Dec. 16 in New Port Richey. The new rates would take effect Jan. 1, affecting commercial and residential rates.

The increase reflects a 6.4 percent bump over the county-mandated fee trash haulers charge their Pasco customers. That increase is about one-third the 16.5 percent increase originally proposed. That proposal came out of the system the county developed in 2007 to index trash-fee increases based on a combination of diesel prices and inflation.

The indexing system was meant to free the county from hiring consultants to determine how much to charge for trash pickup.

Last year, commissioners approved the first increase in trash fees since 1992.

Despite that increase, last year's spike in fuel prices, which pushed diesel near $5 a gallon, cost Accurate Waste - one of the county's 11 licensed haulers - more than $100,000, said owner Steve Serafino.

Given the recent sharp drop in diesel prices - and the overall weakness in the economy - commissioners argued Tuesday against adopting the full increase, which would have given Pasco the highest trash rates from Hernando County to Sarasota County.

"The bottom line is, we're in a much different environment than we were in September 2007," said Commissioner Michael Cox.
Trash haulers asked commissioners to approve the entire increase, noting that fuel prices could climb again in the near future.

"Even though fuel prices have stabilized or come down, I'm not one who wants to play the market," Serafino said.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, commissioners:

•Approved a settlement payment of $79,116 to Metro Development Group, which sued the county in May after commissioners reduced the amount of homes Metro could build on 40 acres off Denton Avenue. Metro sued under the state's Bert J. Harris Act, which protects property owners from having their rights arbitrarily denied.

•Put off until Jan. 27 a decision on a proposed recycling center at Coastal Landfill in Hudson. Neighbors objected to the proposal to crush concrete and recycle other construction debris at the site between Denton and Houston avenues. They're concerned about the impact truck traffic could have on the area's unpaved roads. The landfill owner has been unable to strike a deal with its residential neighbors on Houston that would let Coastal pave the road, as mandated by the county.

•Approved Monday as the start date for the widening of Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in Wesley Chapel by the developers of Seven Oaks. The work, which is more than three years behind schedule, has a completion date of Oct. 31, 2010. Seven Oaks will pay $22.3 million to expand the road to six lanes from County Line Road to State Road 54. Construction should begin in earnest after in January, the developers have said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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