West Sacramento weighs new garbage company as residents face higher rates

The city of West Sacramento is considering a new company for garbage collection services when its current contract ends next year.

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The city has worked with the same waste hauler WM, formally known as Waste Management since 1987. After evaluating three proposals, city staff determined the strongest bid came from GreenWaste, a San Jose-based company with more than 20 public-sector clients that serves over 300,000 residential customers annually.

The city’s Environment and Utilities Commission reviewed the proposal this week before making a recommendation to the City Council, which has final approval over the contract.

During the meeting, commission members criticized the city for involving them late in the process and for not conducting more public outreach.

“I don’t think I can recommend this to city council without having some public outreach,” longtime commission member Dayna Cordano said.

The commission ultimately decided not to recommend approval of the contract until it received more information about the bidding process and more input from the community.

Each of the three proposals included rate increases for customers, in part because the city plans to stop handling billing and have the new waste hauler assume that responsibility.

City’s contracted costs exceed what residents pay

Under the current arrangement, the city pays WM more for service than it collects from residents. The difference between what the city pays WM and collects from customers has increased dramatically since 2020.

This year, West Sacramento expects to pay about $1.9 million to cover the difference, according to a staff report. For most residential customers, the city covered about $4 a month of the cost last year.

The proposed garbage rate increases followed a March vote to significantly increase water and sewer rates in the city in response to financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and aging infrastructure requiring costly repairs.

Cordano said the city’s approach to this contract differed dramatically from its process to consider the water and sewage rate increases, which involved the public and the commission in more substantial ways. She criticized the city for its failure to bring the public in sooner. “I think the city really fell short on this one for that,” Cordano said.

Cordano also raised concerns about the size of the rate increases: “That’s going to be a really big cost increase for a lot of families.”

West Sacramento Sustainability Manager Ryan Burnett told the commission that he agreed the community should have been brought in sooner and said he wasn’t sure why it wasn’t.

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Representatives from WM and Atlas, the other competing bidder, said they could offer lower rates than GreenWaste while maintaining the service standards proposed in the GreenWaste contract. They also said they had not been given the same opportunity to negotiate with the city as GreenWaste.

The companies also criticized the scoring system used to evaluate proposals, which they said placed too little weight on rates and pricing structures.

“WM has been your partner for over 40 years,” Eric Lynch, WM’s area director of sales, said during public comment. “WM prioritized your cost to your customers.”

WM representatives also said remaining with the company would avoid complications associated with switching providers.

“There is no startup period, no learning curve or transition plan required,” said Daniel Uribe, who oversees collections operations in West Sacramento for WM. “Our drivers, technicians, dispatchers and customer service team deliver these results day in and day out.”

How much West Sacramento trash rates could rise

Members of the public objected to the proposed price increases and service changes, with many saying the city should remain with its current provider, which they said had provided reliable and consistent service for decades.

“I believe the proposed waste management contract deserves very careful city scrutiny before the city commits residents to a 10-plus year or potentially longer agreement,” said Kathy Bailey, a West Sacramento resident and City Council candidate.

“This isn’t about whether we should have good garbage, recycling or organic service, we absolutely should,” Bailey said. “The question is whether residents are getting the best possible service and the best possible value for what we are required to pay.”

Regardless of which company the City Council picks for garbage collection, West Sacramento residents are expected to see a significant increase in their monthly utility costs over the next four years.

Compared with the beginning of 2026, a family of four living in a single-family home would see a 74% increase in monthly water, sewer and waste charges by 2030. Monthly costs for those services would rise to about $180 from about $103.

Meanwhile, electricity rates, which have over the past 10 years, are expected to continue rising. The California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office estimates that the average customer could pay an additional $70 per month, or $840 per year, by 2030.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which provides gas and electric utility services to West Sacramento, recently asked the state for permission to increase natural gas rates by about $0.41 per month, but that request has not been approved.

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