Compton : Trash Rate Hike Postponed

For the fourth time, the Compton City Council has postponed a decision on whether to raise rates for residential trash collection.

The city’s trash hauler, Murcole Inc., is asking for a rate increase of about 13%, which would push the monthly charge from $9.65 to $10.96. The firm, which has the franchise to collect trash in the city until 1994, claims its costs have escalated because fees at landfills are doubling.

The city staff says Murcole’s rate request is too high and is suggesting a raise of about 8%, which would put the cost at $10.46. Residents complained at Tuesday night’s council hearing, however, that Compton’s rates are already higher than those of surrounding cities.

Lynwood, for example, has a monthly residential rate of $8.02, according to a survey by the city manager’s staff. The survey shows Paramount’s rate is $6.10 a month and Carson’s is $9.27.

Before making a decision on the rate increase, council members said they want to know what Murcole charges other cities in which it has franchises and also what the rates are in cities whose trash must be hauled as far away as Compton’s, which is taken to the Puente Hills landfill in the San Gabriel Valley.