Recology's San Francisco garbage rates are about to go up
San Francisco waste hauler Recology will charge city residents nearly 25% more to collect their trash in the coming years under new rates approved this week at City Hall.
The decision Wednesday by San Francisco's Refuse Rate Board applies to the rates Recology charges to pick up trash at single-family homes and other residential properties around town.
The monthly cost of Recology's standard three-bin service for homes will increase from $47 this year to $52.75 in 2026, $56.52 in 2027 and $58.46 in 2028.
While significant, the 24.4% rate hike over three years is less than proposed by both Recology and the city's garbage rate watchdog. Recology had sought a nearly 32% increase over the same period, while the city's refuse rates administrator recommended an almost 28% hike.
Recology's proposal would have increased the cost of its three-bin service to $62.03 by 2028.
The rate hikes are the culmination of a process that began in January, when Recology argued that it needed to raise its rates because of rising operating costs due to inflation and the city's slower than expected economic recovery from the pandemic. Recology said that its residential refuse rates had remained flat for two years and were lower than other Bay Area cities.
'At the end of the day, San Francisco's rate for standard residential service remains less than Oakland, San Jose and Los Angeles,' Recology spokesperson Robert Reed said in an email.
Refuse Rates Administrator Jay Liao said the approved rates are 'in line with, or lower than, peer cities and will provide for the level of service residents need.'
'This was a process where we've scrutinized every dollar in Recology's proposal to bring down rates as much as possible because San Franciscans should receive dependable service at a reasonable cost,' Liao said in a statement.
The decision represents a test of the reforms voters made three years ago to the city's process for setting garbage rates after federal prosecutors charged former public works head Mohammed Nuru and several Recology companies and executives in a corruption scandal.
Prosecutors said Recology funneled money into a nonprofit 'slush fund' that Nuru controlled because he held sway over their garbage rates and the firm wanted to keep him happy.
The rate hikes were approved by the Refuse Rate Board, a three-member panel that includes City Administrator Carmen Chu, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Dennis Herrera and Steve Bowdry, who is serving as ratepayer representative.
Aaron Peskin, a former city supervisor who authored the reforms and gathered an unusual coalition of tenants and landlords to oppose Recology's proposed hikes, was satisfied with the outcome.
'It's not everything we wanted,' Peskin said. 'But it shows that the system is working and that the public and the city have meaningful oversight.'
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