By DeAnna Maddox
OILTON — During a recent meeting Oilton council members approved a six percent increase to public trash service rates following discussion about rising costs from Republic Trash Services and concerns related to billing accuracy.
Council members reviewed billing information that revealed duplicate and outdated charges on some accounts, according to City Clerk Shannon Wilson.
“We are actually getting double charged and triple charged on some of the items,” she said.
Furthermore, she named a business that was being charged that has not been in operation for some time. Council members proceeded to stress the importance of ensuring residents are accurately billed for services at the time of the meeting.
During discussion it was noted that Republic Trash Service typically raises rates by approximately five percent each year. Councilman Brian Barton expressed hesitation at increasing rates too high — expressing he would struggle to support an extensive increase.
“I understand they go up by five percent a year. Maybe we go up this one time an extra one or two percent — I have a hard time going up by eight or ten percent,” he said.
The possibilty of competitive bidding was discussed with staff informing council members the current trash service contract is expected to expire in the coming year. An initial motion to increase rates by seven percent failed. A second motion to approve a six percent increase passed by majority vote.