Fayetteville sanitation rates are going up in January. The Dec. 1 vote by council members came on the heels of a rate increase by hauler Waste Management.

The council adopted a resolution to increase the cost of sanitation services from the current rate of $9.35 to $11.85, an increase of $2.50, or 27 percent. Sanitation costs for seniors, who receive a 15 percent discount, will increase $2.13 over the current $7.95 rate to $10.08.

The increase follows a contractual hike in services by Waste Management. Addressing the need for an increase for services, Waste Management Municipal Marketing Manager Gerald Matthews cited several reasons impacting the company. Justification for the increase, also approved at the Dec. 1 meeting, centered on employee healthcare, escalating fuel costs and rises in landfill tipping fees.

In a Nov. 16 letter, Matthews said the company’s original 2003 bid to provide services to Fayetteville were based on use of Live Oak Landfill in DeKalb County, a site that was mandated to close in December 2004.

The closure, said Matthews, “resulted in a tremendous increase in landfill disposal and transportation costs for all of us on the southside of Atlanta.”

Also cited as justification for the service increase was Waste Management employees’ healthcare costs which have increased 13-15 percent in the past three years and increases in fuel and petroleum-based products.

Fuel costs have risen 37 percent while the cost for petroleum-based products has increased by an average of 28 percent, Matthews said.

The Dec. 1 resolution preserved the 15 percent discount for seniors. Special senior sanitation rates are available only for residential customers and apply only at the residence at which the individual resides. Qualifying for the discount requires documentation of date of birth to establish that the customer is 65 year of age or older.

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