Small increase in solid waste costs for Moses Lake residents

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake residents will be paying a little more in utility costs; the Moses Lake City Council approved a 3% increase in solid waste rates Sept. 8. The increase will go into effect Nov. 1.

The increases will be minor – 68 cents per month for 48-gallon residential garbage can, and $1.11 per month for a 96-gallon garbage can. A commercial 96-gallon garbage can dumped two times per week will increase by $1.54 per month. But city officials warned that price increases may be coming that are outside the city's control. Council member Mark Fancher, who serves on Grant County's solid waste board, said city officials will have to plan for the costs associated with waste management. Those include, among other things, a new landfill.

"I've heard a lot of things about solid waste and the uphill battle that we're fighting with regulation, including food waste separation and those sorts of initiatives that are out there," said Mayor Dustin Swartz. "Somebody's got to pay for that, and unfortunately it's going to be the citizens."

The Washington Legislature approved new laws between 2022 and 2025 designed to separate food and other organic waste from landfills, according to the Washington Department of Ecology. RCW 70A.205.540 will require counties to provide specific garbage collection services to qualifying businesses and any single-family residents that separate organic waste from other garbage.

That law is scheduled to go into effect in April 2027. Grant County did receive a five-year deferral, City Finance Director Sheila Danielson said, but must develop a plan and be working toward implementing it to maintain that deferral. 

Grant County is in an "organics recycling collection area," which means there must be a place to take the organic waste.

The city's waste management fund has a substantial reserve, which Danielson estimated at about $3 million. That reserve has dropped over time, as the city has absorbed rate increase requests from the companies that provide the service in the city. The last time the city passed on that increase to customers was 2023, she said. 

"Since then, there's been a 12.4% increase that the city has paid the contractor, but the city has not passed on the cost to our customers receiving the service," she said.

Council member Mark Fancher said $3 million sounds like a substantial amount, but in light of the new regulations, the city may need it. Fancher, who serves on Grant County's solid waste board, said the requirements to meet the new state regulations could be expensive. 

"What I would say is yes, we don't want to get rid of that $3 million fund balance right now," Fancher said.

Council member David Skaug asked how the city built up a reserve if city officials were undercharging for the service. Danielson said that would take an analysis she hasn't had time to do, but said she would do that and bring the results back to the council.

Council member Joel Graves asked for a cost projection over the next five years, since it's likely costs will continue to increase for the contractors, and ultimately for the city.