On one hand, Lathrop residents will be paying more to have their garbage picked up when the new fiscal year starts in July.

On the other hand, they won’t be paying as much as the Consumer Price Index calls for in terms of keeping up with inflation.

On Monday the Lathrop City Council approved a 4 percent price increase with Republic Services per the city’s ongoing contract with the company previously known as Lathrop Sunrise Sanitation – a contract that specifies that the company that hike rates by up to 4 percent depending on what is specified in the CPI-U for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Area.

With inflation surging, the CPI for that region this year is 5.2 percent – meaning that Republic Services will hit the 4 percent cap, which is the most it can raise rates according to the contract with the city in place through 2024, and still be below the mark for the area in which they operate.

Lathrop residents saw a 3.5 percent rate hike in 2019, a 2.9 percent increase in 2020, and a 1.6 percent rate increase in 2021.

The 2020 increase was offset by the City of Lathrop’s decision to foot the bill for the first six months of the fiscal year so that it didn’t have to burden families during the toughest days of the pandemic – setting aside $45,000 in unused funds before residents started seeing the increase on bills starting in early 2021.

That means that standard residential customers, after July 1, will see the price for small 30-gallon garbage cans increase by $1.43-a-month to $37.17 while medium 60-gallon garbage cans will increase by $1.54-a-month to $40.04. Large 90-gallon garbage cans will increase by $1.75 each month to $45.46.

Senior citizens will see a slightly reduced spike in their bills with 30-gallon cans going up $1.06-a-month to $27.66 while 60-gallon cans will increase $1.14-a-month up to $29.71. Large 90-gallon cans for seniors will increase by $1.29 each month to $33.53.

Residents of mobile homes will see their monthly bills increase from $1.20 each month up to $1.40 depending on the size of the can while seniors in mobile home parks will see increased from $0.90 up to $1.04 for the largest offering.

Commercial rates are also set to increase by 4 percent.

According to the contract that the city has with Republic Services – which superseded Lathrop Sunrise Sanitation – the company is allowed an annual rate adjustment of up to 4 percent based on the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Area, of which Lathrop is included. The council approved a five-year extension with the company in 2019 that will make the company the provider of sanitation services for the City of Lathrop through the end of the 2024 fiscal year.

As part of the city’s contract and ongoing relationship with Republic Services, the company pays the City of Lathrop a franchise fee of 7 percent of the gross revenue collected every month, and 3 percent of the gross revenue collected every month for recyclable items.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.