Title
HEARING - Environmental Management Department recommending the Board:
1) Conduct a public hearing pursuant to Proposition 218 concerning the proposed solid waste collection rates for Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal Co.; and
2) If there is no majority protest, adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 110-2026 adjusting the solid waste rates for the Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal Co. service area by 6% for the interim year to be effective July 1, 2026.
HEARING - Environmental management Department recommending the Board consider the following regarding the solid waste collection rates for Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal Co., doing business as Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal:
1) Find that a 6.00% increase to the existing rates is in accordance with the interim year rate setting process as outlined in the Solid Waste Rate Setting Policies and Procedures Manual; and
2) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 110-2026 (Attachment A), adjusting the solid waste collection rates for the Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal Co. area by 6.00% for the 2026 Interim year to become effective July 1, 2026.
FUNDING: User Fees/Franchise Fees. (No Federal Funding)
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On October 27, 2015 (Legistar file 15-0903), the Board adopted Resolution No. 161-2015 authorizing a new Solid Waste Services Agreement (Franchise Agreement) with Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal Co. (Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal) for the collection of solid waste throughout the franchise area. The new Franchise Agreement incorporated a Solid Waste Rate Setting Policies and Procedures Manual (Rate Manual) developed by Crowe LLP.
The Rate Manual provides specific requirements for the setting of collection rates during “Base” years (every third year of the Franchise Agreement and “Interim” years (years falling between the base years). Base year rate adjustments require an in-depth financial analysis to determine if rates require adjustment, and whether or not an increase or decrease to rates is warranted. Interim year rate adjustments are calculated based upon 85% of the change in the U.S. City Average - Garbage and Trash Collection Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the previous 12 months (December to December). The franchise hauler is not obligated to request an increase in interim years and is allowed to request an increase of up to 6.00%.
The new Franchise Agreement incorporated the residential and commercial solid waste collection rates, as base years, adopted by the Board on June 23, 2015 (Legistar file 13-0572), Resolution No. 098-2015, and became effective July 1, 2015. Interim year rate increases were previously approved by the Board on the following dates:
• June 7, 2016 (Legistar file 15-0903, 1.75%)
• May 23, 2017 (Legistar file 15-0903, 1.51%)
• June 12, 2018 (Legistar file 18-0824 1.92%)
• June 25, 2019 (Legistar file. 19-0918 6.0%)
• June 23, 2020 (Legistar file. 20-0706, 1%).
• June 22, 2021 (Legistar file 21-0905 Base year 7.43%)
• June 21, 2022 (Legistar file 22-0985, 4.72%)
• June 27, 2023 (Legistar file 23-0856, 5.19%)
• June 25, 2024 (Legistar file 24-1036, Base Year 11.94%)
For the Interim Year of 2025, Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal did not formally submit an increase in anticipation of making the service area mandatory, realizing that higher rates were curtailing participation. On May 19, 2026 (Legistar File 26-0575), the Solid Waste Ordinance revision was approved by the Board, which defined the TTSD service area as mandatory (effective June 18, 2026).
In May 2026, Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal submitted an Interim Year Rate Application (Attachment B) to the Environmental Management Department (EMD) for collection services for the rate year 2026 and requested a 6.00% rate increase for residential and commercial solid waste collection rates. As a result of the area now being mandatory, TTSD has lowered the single can service rate by -6.09% and added enhanced services to the residents.
Environmental Management is responsible for overseeing the franchise agreements for Solid Waste Management, and rate setting is guided by the Rate Manual. Staff have reviewed the application and found no deficiencies, and the 6.00% increase is within the guidelines of the Rate Manual.
In accordance with County Ordinance 8.42.180, notices of a proposed rate increase are to be mailed to all property owners in the affected area, as listed in Section 8.42.200, and a public hearing is to be held not less than 45 days after the mailing. On May 7, 2026, 1,877 notices of the proposed rate increase were mailed to all property owners and refuse customers in the Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal Refuse service area (Attachment C). The notices informed customers of the proposed increases and of their opportunity to submit a written protest. The protest period will close at the public hearing. Absent a majority protest (i.e., 50% + 1, or 940 protests), the Board may approve the final adoption of the proposed rates at this hearing. The rate increases would become effective on July 1, 2026.
ALTERNATIVES
If a majority of property owners/tenant rate payers protest the rate changes (940 written protests), the Board of Supervisors is provided copies of the ratepayer protests for their review and may choose to either request that staff go back and make changes to be reintroduced through another Proposition 218 process before consideration of an adoption is entertained or withhold adoption of the proposed rate changes altogether.
Without a majority protest, the Board of Supervisors has the legal authority to adopt the proposed rate changes as provided for by Proposition 218, the Franchise Agreement, and the Rate Setting Manual. Denial of the requested 2026 Interim Year rate increase of 6.00% would not be consistent with the terms of the Board-approved Franchise Agreement and Rate Manual incorporated therein. Section 22 of the Franchise Agreement provides that rates are "established and adjusted" in accordance with the Rate Manual. The Manual provides that a Franchisee "shall be entitled to adjust its rates" during an interim year based upon a formula that includes the CPI. If the Board does not approve an interim year Application, deficiencies must be identified in the Application for determining the rates, which would require staff to address the deficiencies and return to the Board with a resolution for Board approval/adoption. Staff has reviewed the Application and found no deficiencies in the Application, supporting data, or the required notice.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
See Discussion/Background above.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
County Counsel has approved the proposed Resolution.
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended. While the Board does not have discretion to deny the rate increase under the terms of the current Franchise Agreement, the Department will engage the Franchisee in late summer or early Fall to begin negotiations ahead of the Agreement's June 2028 expiration.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The 2026 Interim year rate increase proposed by Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal is directly related to the cost to provide solid waste collection services to its customers. The County’s Franchise Fee will remain at 5%. However, as rates are incrementally increased, the County will see a slight increase in Franchise Fee revenue.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS
1) Clerk of the Board will obtain the Chair’s signature on one (1) original copy of the adopted Resolution; and
2) Clerk of the Board will forward one (1) copy of the executed Resolution to Environmental Management for further processing.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
N/A
CONTACT
Jeffrey Warren, REHS, Director
Environmental Management Department