LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fees at the Eastlake Landfill are going up.

Pursuant to a multiyear fee schedule adopted last year by the Board of Supervisors, gate fees at the Eastlake Landfill will be going up starting in July to offset the costs of landfill operations and increasing and costly compliance regulations, according to Lake County Public Services.

The tonnage rates will go up 6 percent from $42.92 a ton to $45.50 a ton, Public Services reported. IN addition, volume rates for loads up to five cubic yards will go up from $6.10 a cubic yard to $6.50 a cubic yard.

The minimum gate fee will remain at $5, and prices will not change for individual materials such as couches ($10), mattresses ($10-$15, depending on size), and 30-gallon bags or cans ($2 each).

Even with the approved increase, the Eastlake Landfill will have considerably lower rates than surrounding landfills which charge tipping fees in the $60-75 a ton range, the agency reported.

Landfill rates will be passed through by the franchise haulers to their curbside residential and commercial customers.

Beginning in July residential customers can expect to see a slight increase to pass through the new landfill increase on their billing statement – about a 1 percent increase – for a standard 32-gallon service in the unincorporated areas.

Commercial customers will see about $3 to $4 per monthly increase for a 4 cubic yard bin picked up weekly for the pass-though cost of new landfill increase.

Customers’ total charges depend on the location, size and frequency of service, Public Services reported.

The transfer station operated by Lake County Waste Solutions in Lakeport also will pass through the landfill increases.

Lakeport Transfer Station rates are as follows: tonnage rate, $55.10 per ton; volume rate, $7.45 a cubic yard; mattresses/couches, $10.40 each; 30-gallon cans/bags, $1.70 each; minimum fee, $5.70.

At the same time the multi-year rate increase was approved last year, the Board of Supervisors approved a five-year contract with Solid Waste Solutions to bring about 65 tons per day of refuse – beginning in January – from the Ukiah transfer station, which they operate for the city of Ukiah.

This contract generates approximately three transfer trucks per day Monday through Saturday, traveling from Ukiah via Highway 29 and Highway 53, Public Services reported.

The money produced by the five-year contract allows the county to return to the same level of disposal and income that was produced in 2006. It replenishes the solid waste reserves that are required for the planned expansion of the landfill into adjacent property already owned by the county. That design process must begin in the next couple of years. The cost for this expansion is estimated at $3 million to $5 million.

Increased revenue also will provide funding for a state mandate that requires all landfills to install a landfill gas system for monitoring and potential conversion of gas to energy at an estimated cost of $3 million.

The revenue from the five-year import contract removes the burden on the local residents and businesses to cover these compliance and expansion costs.

With the import option approved, local ratepayers will see a gradual increase in rates as outlined above to cover only the $500,000 annual shortfall for normal operations.

Had the import option not be approved, the impact on local ratepayers would have been significantly higher, Public Services reported.

To achieve the same level of revenue that will be brought in by import, rates would have had to go up by 95 percent immediately, an option that neither staff nor a majority of board members supported in the fragile economy.

Once the initial five-year contract period has expired, the smaller local increases that were implemented in the previous five years will place the county in a better financial condition to cover its operational and compliance costs and allow the county to determine if an additional five-year import extension is in its best interest, Public Services reported.

For more information on landfill rates, please contact Public Services Department at 262-1760. New rate sheets are being distributed to customers at the Eastlake Landfill.

For more information on curbside rates, contact your franchise hauler.

More information on county franchise haulers, programs and recycling opportunities can be found on the county’s recycling Web site, www.recycling.co.lake.ca.us .