Township Trustees Talk Trash, Explain Garbage Collection Contract Extension

In light of recent mailings and a general misunderstanding of the township’s contract with Waste Management, trustees gave a special presentation Wednesday to explain why they are opting to extend the contract with WM three years–an extension estimated to net a minimum of $436,187 in combined annual savings for all residents.

Prior to 2007, Macomb Township used several different companies to serve its collection needs. In 2006, the township opted to contract with a single waste hauler and solicited bids from Rizzo Services, Republic, Allied and WM.

These bids were for eight-year contracts that would include a three-year extension after the first five years. With this three-year extension, the township would be able to negotiate with the provider for better rates.  

Trustee Roger Krzeminski said these better rates have been achieved in the proposed three-year extension with WM.

To illustrate this savings, Krzeminski showed a graph comparing the rate of Macomb’s WM contract to the rates offered by Rizzo, Republic and Allied in the neighboring townships of Chesterfield, Shelby and Washington, for the next three years.

While the rates of other providers increased every year, Macomb’s rate with WM remained constant and less than all other rates during the extended contract.

Although there is no question that Macomb Township will extend its contract with WM, at the request of Trustee Dino Bucci, a special public meeting will be held Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. in the to allow residents to ask any further questions about the contract or the township’s waste collection services.

What does this extension mean for residents?

The extended contract will lock in a per-address, per-month rate and include a special, reduced rate for seniors (residents 60 and over).

The new per-address, per-month rates compared to the rates for the previous five years are as follows:

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

This means that annually, residents can expect to pay approximately $178.80 a year, which includes the new rate and the $2.04 annual HHW program fee.

The annual senior citizen rate will also be fixed at $146.04 if paid quarterly, or $134.04 if paid annually.

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 fuel surcharge for the previous five years was $2.66.

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.