HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The governor’s legal counsel has drafted a measure allowing for the implementation of islandwide trash collection services, but issues related to a lifeline program are holding back the bill, according to discussions Thursday during a meeting of the Guam Solid Waste Authority board of directors.
The governor has spoken about wanting to implement islandwide mandatory sign-up for trash collection services since 2021, largely as a means to combat illegal dumping. Expanding trash collection to the whole island would also be a way for GSWA to expand its revenue base.
But there are some prerequisites to implementing islandwide trash collection. Not only does there need to be investment in new equipment, but legislation authorizing the mandate needs to pass.
GSWA Chair Andrew Gayle said Thursday that the governor’s draft bill hasn’t been submitted to the Guam Legislature and while he doesn’t know what the timing will be, he did speak on issues involving a lifeline program.
“Everything was all kind of right away agreed to except for a lifeline program. … I think that’s the last thing. Because remember, the idea was we will assess anybody who is eligible to be a customer of ours, they will become a customer of ours. We will charge them appropriately,” Gayle said. “But then, there’s going to be a lifeline criteria. If you’re eligible for certain social welfare programs, then you would get a form of subsidy, whether it’s a 100% subsidy or partial subsidy.”
Gayle said that’s the piece that hasn’t been finalized and no funding source for it has been identified.
“I informed the governor that we can’t be the source, that the other ratepayers can’t be the source of the lifeline funding,” he said. “It has to come from an external source.”
Rate increases
When the governor announced she wanted to see islandwide trash collection implemented, her directive was for no rate increase to take place.
But GSWA, an autonomous agency, pursued a rate case with the Public Utilities Commission in an effort to bring in the revenue it needs to meet its costs and address long-term responsibilities.
The basic residential rate is $30 per month. The commercial rate is $156 per ton, with a discount. Otherwise, the commercial rate would be about $171 per ton, the same as the government rate. These rates have been in place for 10 years.
The GSWA board authorized management to petition for rate increases with the PUC in March. At the time, a consultant presented four rate scenarios to the board, with all options calling for the same rate increases in 2024: $35 for the residential rate; $179 for the commercial rate; and $190 for the government rate.
Rates in subsequent years would depend on whether residents are mandated to subscribe to trash collection services and if there are changes to post-closure costs for the former Ordot dump.
GSWA General Manager Irvin Slike on Thursday said the agency is seeing “quite a bump” in revenue, but that is due to services as a result of Typhoon Mawar.
“The long-term financial problem we have is the long-term commitments in terms of (landfill) cell construction, cell closure, post-closure funds. … All of that was ignored by the (federal) receiver. And that’s where the price increase needs to go to, to make sure that that day doesn’t come and everybody is scrambling around trying to find several millions of dollars to fund your commitments. That’s what the rate increase is really for,” Slike said.
The federal government sued GovGuam to force the closure of Ordot dump, citing environmental concerns, and solid waste operations went under federal receivership starting in 2008. The federal court ordered a partial end to the receivership in 2019, but a complete transition is pending.
An official trash cart used by residential customers of the Guam Solid Waste Authority is seen March 4, 2023, outside a home in Maite.
