Medford, Ore., — Medford residents could soon pay more for their garbage service.
Rogue Disposal and Recycling is looking to raise trash prices by twelve percent in 2017.
Right now the City of Medford has one of the lowest trash rates in the state, but with the increase it would become higher than both Ashland and Grants Pass.
Rogue Disposal and Recycling takes care of the Rogue Valley’s trash needs.
Every five years they reevaluate the service as a whole, and though most years not many changes are made, this year it’s different.
This is unusual for us in our fairly recent history, the last 15 to 20 years.
Because recycling costs are going up, the company wants to raise garbage prices by twelve percent for Medford residents.
“There are costs associated by recycling that are not being offset by the value of the recyclables and that’s really the biggest driver right now of increasing costs.” says the company’s Community and Governmental Affairs Manager, Laura Leebrick.
Leebrick says although the cost will be higher..
“Households who have the 35 gallon cart their garbage bill, their service bill will go up two dollars and five cents a month.”
Customers won’t see a change in service. But the company is changing their messaging.
“Recycling over the last 15-20 years has become increasingly confusing to people. We want to simplify the message because the end goal is for us to provide education to our customers, so that they know clearly what goes in the recycling bin.”
Medford City Council does have to vote on this increase, but if it is approved, it will be implemented as of January 2017.
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