How much Morro Bay residents should expect to pay for garbage after an increase

The community of Morro Bay will now have to pay more for their garbage pickup.

The city council voted unanimously to increase the cost of garbage pickup by 38 percent at last week’s council meeting.

City officials say the increase was needed following increased material costs, pay increases for its public works employees, and declining revenue from recycling.

According to the city’s Public Works Department, 18-percent of the new 38-percent increase is a temporary rate that will be a part of every bill for the next nine months.

“I’ve lived in Morro Bay for 25 years and everything has been going up in the last few years. That’s one more increase," said Anne Marie Schnetzler, Morro Bay resident. "We’ve had this for water and sewer and now it’s for garbage collection. Everybody is getting very antsy. It’s getting very expensive to live in Morro Bay."

Below is what a single-family household should expect to pay following the new increase:

“That’s a big increase. Nobody really likes that. I need to look a bit closer on things maybe we can do personally in our household to reduce that. I think we can get a smaller bin for example. It’s a pretty big chunk of money,” said Mike Groves, Morro Bay resident.

In a statement to KSBY, Morro Bay Public Works Director Greg Kwolek said in part, “The city (as an organization) recognizes any increase in trash rates can have a major impact on residents and businesses…. The city’s main role was to ensure a protest process was set up in accordance with CA Proposition 218.”

Proposition 218 requires garbage collectors charge everyone the same rate which means reduced rates are not available to lower-income customers.

A 45-day notice was mailed to customers notifying them of the proposed increase. If enough customers filed written protests to the city then the proposed rate could not be imposed.

However, the city only received 26-percent of the needed written protests.