A Waste Management representative told the Keystone Heights City Council that under a proposal to the city, it is lowering the cost it charges Lake Region businesses for commercial trash pickup by 14%.
Greg Huntington of Waste Management told council members that since 2007, Advanced Disposal held the contract for commercial waste disposal with the city. He added that in 2020, his company acquired Advanced Disposal, and due to employee turnover after the acquisition, Waste Management over-priced its services in the Lake Region.
“We realized that we priced at 14% higher than we should have,” he said.
Huntington added that the prices in its new proposal to the city reflect the lower and correct prices the company charges.
Last November, several business leaders complained to the city council about a Waste Management price hike. In response, Huntington and the company’s North Florida General Manager Marcel Dalby blamed the price increase on rising labor and dumpster costs and Advanced Disposal’s failure to raise prices since 2015, even though under its contract with the city, it could have increased rates by up to 3% per year.
After the November meeting, the city sent out requests for proposals for the service, and Waste Management was the only vendor that submitted a proposal.
