Kodiak's new trash contract would raise business dumpster rates up to 43%

Kodiak businesses could pay as much as 43% more for dumpster service starting July 2027 under a new five-year trash contract with Alaska Waste, based on the company's own examples, while households with roll carts would see a 5% increase. Borough staff presented the contract to the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly on Thursday, and the Assembly votes on it Nov. 5.

A residential roll cart would go from $50.96 to $53.51 a month. Once-a-week commercial rates would rise 15% to 38% depending on dumpster size. In one of the company's examples, an 8-yard dumpster emptied four times a week would go from about $4,840 to about $6,910 a month, according to the contract packet. Bulk item pickup would go from $20 to $50. Every rate would then adjust yearly for inflation.

The increases are meant to catch up since the contract was last amended in March 2021, staff said. Alaska Waste wrote that inflation has risen about 24% since 2020 while its contract rates rose about 11% because of contract limits, and that fuel costs are up about 59%. It called Kodiak's disposal costs among the highest in the nation.

"Going up 43%, I don't care how much your business makes, that's gonna hurt," Assembly Member Jeremiah Gardner said, according to a meeting transcript. Staff said they negotiated as best they could, but the contractor set the prices. Gardner later added, "I know how much it costs to run fuel through a dump truck, so I get it."

"Prices are up, but so is everything else in the world," said Assembly Member Scott Smiley, who served on the committee that worked on the contract.

Alaska Waste, the borough's current hauler, was the only company to submit a proposal. A second company was interested but didn't continue after the pre-proposal meeting, staff said.

Service would stay mostly the same, but a few things would change for customers. Businesses could supply their own dumpsters if they meet compatibility, safety and borough requirements, which staff said many in the community had asked for. Containers would have to meet bear-resistance standards set by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, with guidance from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Customers with disputes could appeal to the Assembly instead of having to go to court. And Alaska Waste would provide 24 public roll-off containers for residents, with 45 hauls a week at no added cost to the borough, more than under the current contract.

Alaska Waste would also take over inspecting and rejecting mixed loads, work now done by landfill staff. The contract drops the borough's right to end it for convenience, which staff said was necessary to draw bidders, along with the old contract's detailed schedule of penalties for poor performance, which staff said they found no record of the borough ever using. The borough would instead get audit rights and a 30-day window for the hauler to fix problems.

The current contract, which started in July 2020, expires June 30, 2027.