If you live in Pacifica, it costs $35.95 to have your 32-gallon garbage containers collected.
Just seven or so miles to the south, it costs Montara residents $18.02 to have that same trash bin emptied.
Pacifica residents, who could soon see an additional collection fee rate increase, already pay some of the highest rates on the Peninsula, according to data provided to Patch by Recology, a private waste management company that serves most of San Mateo County.
Recology spokeswoman Gina Antonini said rates for the coastal Peninsula cities were negotiated by Coastal Scavenger, the distressed competitor her company bought out in 2010.
“These were rates that were not set by Recology and were inherited when they bought the service territory and acquired that company because they were having financial issues,” Antonini said.
Recology is in negations with Montara and Pacifica to adjust those rates, Antonini said.
“We'll work to figure out an appropriate rate over the next few months of negotiations,” Antonini said.
Atherton tops the Peninsula trash collection rate pile, with residents paying $55.00 to have a 32-gallon container collected. East Palo Alto ($39.81) is the only other city Recology serves where customers pay more.
San Mateo residents get the most bang for their garbage buck, paying just $17.76 to have their 32-gallon containers emptied.
Recology public affairs manager Gino Gasperini said that his company negotiates contracts with municipalities and county officials for residents in unincorporated areas, who then set residential rates.
“The rates do vary,” Gasperini said. “A lot of the mountainous areas take longer to service than the flat areas here (in San Mateo), so that’s a (cost) driver as well.”
Pacifica’s city council will consider a 1.89 percent rate increase on at a Nov. 26 meeting, according to Pacifica Riptide, which is circulating a downloadable petition protesting the rate hike.
The rate hike would be Pacifica’s fourth since the 2010 Coastal Scavenger takeover, Riptide correspondent Lionel Emde reports.
Recology Trash Collection Rates in San Mateo County
20G
32G
64G
96G
Atherton
$27.00
$55.00
$110.00
$164.00
Belmont
$16.93
$28.03
$61.77
$99.86
Burlingame
$12.90
$23.85
$47.71
$70.80
Unincorporated
$25.80
$30.66
$54.34
$77.19
East Palo Alto *
$39.81
$39.81
$39.81
$39.81
Foster City
$11.82
$24.70
$37.84
$56.76
Hillsborough **
$17.40
$27.50
$57.40
$92.40
San Mateo
$11.10
$17.76
$39.15
$60.54
Menlo Park
$13.99
$23.40
$55.99
$83.72
N. Fair Oaks *
$24.70
$24.70
$24.70
$24.70
Redwood City
$11.05
$26.51
$53.02
$78.70
San Carlos
$18.03
$28.84
$60.00
$91.80
West Bay Sanitary Dist.
$21.00
$34.00
$67.00
$101.00
Pacifica
Not available
$35.95
$71.89
Not available
Montara
Not available
$18.02
$64.82
Not available
El Granada
Not available
$18.02
$64.82
Not available
Source: Recology
* East Palo Alto and North Fair Oaks residents are given the same size collection carts.
**Hillsborough residents pay an additional $25 monthly fee.
Note: Recology declined to provide rates for 20 and 96 gallon containers in Pacifica, Montara and El Granada.
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