BRADENTON — On Tuesday, Manatee County Commissioners received a staff update on ongoing conversations with the county’s contracted waste haulers to explore options or opportunities to improve the county’s solid waste disposal services without significantly increasing customer costs. Based on the presentation and board discussion, bulk waste pickup service appears to be the most likely aspect of county waste collection that could change.
As the county’s existing waste hauler contract neared its expiration in 2023, commissioners directed staff to begin negotiations for updated service terms and rates under new contracts. With hauling contractors having experienced rising operating costs since the county’s original agreement in 2008, as well as expected and unexpected economic impacts—such as inflation following the pandemic—the rates for services offered decades earlier were no longer sustainable. This meant negotiations led to higher rates for overall service to the county, leaving then-commissioners to decide between raising rates for customers, decreasing service, or a mix to try to offset impacts on residents.
In 2023, commissioners voted to reduce twice-weekly trash pickup to once per week and to move the service from manual to automated. Commissioners in office at the time felt raising solid waste rates for customers as little as possible would ultimately be more important to residents and business owners than maintaining twice-a-week pickup, an option that staff explained negotiations revealed would significantly raise rates…