Many Okaloosa residents will see monthly rate hike for trash, waste services. Here's why.

SHALIMAR — Starting next month, about 35,000 unincorporated Okaloosa County residents who are Waste Management (WM) customers will be charged $3.33 more per month for the company’s curbside trash pickup and other solid waste services.

That rate increase is part of a five-year franchise agreement/contract extension with the company that a majority of the County Commission approved on Tuesday.

On April 1, the monthly rate will rise by 12.5%, from $26.66 to $29.99, which will remain in place for the first year of the extended agreement.

The rate is subject to an annual adjustment that is calculated by using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for water, sewer and trash collection services.

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The higher rate was attributed in part to Waste Management's significantly greater labor costs, including the higher cost to haul away solid waste during the pandemic.

“I recognize that that’s an increase that people don’t want to see,” county Public Works Director Jason Autrey told commissioners.  

The county’s latest negotiated agreement with Waste Management will run through March 2027. It represents the first of three five-year renewal options that were in the initial agreement from 2017.

Waste Management collects household trash twice per week and provides once-per-week pickups of recycled items, yard waste and bulk waste items.

Before the commission approved the contract extension, Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel said she receives very few complaints about Waste Management's service.

Ketchel said in comparison to recent cost spikes for electricity, gasoline and groceries, the company's $3.33 monthly rate increase “is very, very reasonable for the level of service that our area wishes to have.”

Commissioner Trey Goodwin said he “would love to see no rate increase, but that’s not reality, right?”

After further discussion, the commission approved the contract extension with a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Nathan Boyles, who didn't think the rate hike was necessary and thought the county should have put the new agreement out to bid, cast the lone "nay" vote.

Before the commission voted, Boyles said, “My wife owns a trash company, (Baker-based Adams Sanitation). For purposes of considering whether or not there’s a conflict for me discussing and voting on these (Waste Management contract) items, I effectively presume that I own a trash company. She might disagree.”

Boyles said he had recently talked with County Attorney Lynn Hoshihara about any appearance of a conflict of interest.

“I have researched the issue, and since you and your wife are not eligible to compete for this (new agreement), any future potential for (a conflict of interest) would be speculative,” Hoshihara said. “You may vote on the matter.”

“For the record, this contract (with Waste Management)  is a little big for us anyways,” Boyles said of himself and his wife.