Lower Bills? That's What Macomb's Trash Collectors are Proposing

residents could see a slightly lower bill for their garbage collection next quarter if the township signs a new three-year contract with Waste Management.

The new contract, proposed by Waste Management and currently under consideration by the township’s board of trustees and legal counsel, would lock in a per-address, per-month rate almost $1 less than the current rate.

The contract would also include a special, reduced rate for seniors and a new base rate for the fuel surcharges added to the bills of customers who pay month-to-month or quarterly.

The new per-address, per-month rates compared to the current rates are as follows:

*Seniors who pay annually, will receive one month off their total bill.

For customers who pay for these services annually, the fuel surcharge portion of the contract will not apply. However, for those who pay month-to-month or quarterly, they can expect a few cents added to their monthly payments every time the price per gallon of diesel fuel at the pump exceeds $4.30.

The current contract's fuel surcharge rate is $2.66, meaning customers have to pay 1 cent extra on their bill for every 5 cents the price per gallon at the pump exceeds $2.66 (1 cent when the price hits $2.71, 2 cents for $2.76, etc.).

However, these extra cents would not be added until the price per gallon at the pump exceeds the proposed $4.30 base rate. Waste Management takes its price-per-gallon rates from those reported monthly by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy ("EIA/DOE") in its Monthly Retail On-Highway Diesel Prices Index.

This new contract and associated rates will not be put into effect until the contract has been reviewed by the township's legal counsel and approved by the board of trustees–tentatively Aug. 24.