As garbage collection costs rise, Latrobe seeks options for next waste hauling contract

Latrobe passed along to residents a 2% hike in garbage collection fees charged this year by the city’s hauler, Republic Services, and the city is anticipating another 2% hike in 2025, under a contract extension with the service provider.

Looking further down the road, officials are considering more flexible options to get the best deal for residents in 2026 and beyond.

City Manager Terry Carcella said Latrobe is preparing to seek bids to lock in garbage collection services for as long as five years, with a possible two-year extension, beginning the year after next. But bidders would have half-a-dozen service options from which to choose.

Carcella said he would prefer getting a single contractor to handle all collection services, but he noted it’s conceivable there could be multiple contracts.

“We’re making it very flexible for haulers, from smaller to bigger, to bid on this and give us the best price,” Carcella said. “If they want to bid the entire thing, they can. If they want to break it up, they can make that choice.”

Part of the reason for offering multiple bid options, he said, is to preserve bag collection service for residents who don’t produce much trash, while also making room for the curbside “toter” carts that are offered by some haulers, including Republic.

“What’s unusual is that we’re looking for bag and toter service,” Carcella said.

Among the proposed options bidders would be able to consider would be offering both bag and toter residential service, or either bag or toter service only. Other options would include collecting garbage from commercial customers and collecting recyclable items.

Republic also handles the recyclable collection in Latrobe, a service the city is required to provide for its residents.

The city is looking to make garbage collection more efficient by designating three daily collection districts and by potentially offering contracted haulers use of the city’s solid waste transfer station.

Now, Carcella said, “When they pick up in the city, they’ve got to run all the way to the landfill and then come all the way back and start picking up again. If our transfer station is used, they wouldn’t have to do that.”

The Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, Lincoln Avenue and Cedar Street are the proposed dividing lines for the three collection districts. Each would contain roughly 1,100 garbage customers, according to city public works director Scott Wajdic.

“We feel the city can be picked up in three days rather than five days,” Carcella said. “We feel it’s more advantageous, if a contractor’s here already, to pick up as much as they can in that time frame.”

While Latrobe locked in a series of 2% rate increases under its contract with Republic, Carcella noted that is not what many other communities are experiencing.

“When you look at every contract out there, it all increased substantially compared to what people paid in the past,” he said. “Things are changing. We’re trying to be as proactive as we can because we don’t know what those costs are going to be in five years.”

Carcella said he hopes to have bids for city council to consider as early as June. If none prove acceptable, the city may evaluate taking over garbage collection itself.

“Whether we do it, or someone else does it, we need to see what those numbers are going to be in 2026,” Carcella said.

In either case, the city is planning to continue handling billing of garbage customers. Current quarterly residential fees are $69 for bag service and $85 for toter service.

Carcella suggested that 15 customers who live outside the city — but somehow were included in the city’s garbage contract with Republic — be excluded from future service. Because they are beyond Latrobe’s borders, mostly in Derry Township, he noted, the city would be unable to lien their properties if they failed to pay garbage collection fees.

Some unpaid fees have grown to six figures over the years, Carcella said. To avoid the costs the city incurs trying to collect them, particularly when rental properties are involved, Carcella suggested the city issue garbage bills to property owners instead of occupants.

It would then be up to landlords to recoup the cost of garbage collection from their tenants.

Solicitor Lee Demosky recommended council approve an ordinance if it wants to make that change in the billing procedure.