TALLADEGA COUNTY — Veolia Environmental Services customers in Lincoln and the unincorporated portions of the county, but not Talladega city residents, will be facing a rate hike of 50 cents per household starting in July.According to a letter presented at the County Commission meeting Monday night, the increase is necessary to cover the skyrocketing price of diesel fuel, which “has consistently been running about 75 cents per gallon higher than gasoline and is now more than $4 per gallon. The extra 50 cents would then be deducted from the Consumer Price Index increase that would normally go into effect Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
“Recent CPIs have been in excess of 5 percent, which for Talladega County one cart customers would be 61 cents. Under this plan, the balance of the CPI would be implemented in October. You (the commission) might also consider allowing the full CPI one quarter early, effective July 1, and only having one adjustment for the year, implemented one quarter early,” according to the letter.
The commission took no action on the request Monday, opting to table it for two weeks and ask a Veolia representative to attend the next meeting.
Lincoln Mayor Lew Watson said he had received a similar letter last month, although he did not have a copy at hand and was not sure of all the details Tuesday.
“I really don’t think there’s much that can be done,” Watson said. “It is in our contract with them that they can do that from time to time.”
Interim Talladega city manager Terri St. James said she was not aware of any such notice being provided to Talladega, most likely because the city does not have a current contract with Veolia.
The contract the city negotiated with the company in 2005 was supposed to expire in January of this year, but due to a typographical error it actually expired in January 2007.
“Right now, we’re continuing garbage service under the terms of the expired contract,” St. James said. “We’re not negotiating anything right now. The council, I believe, decided they wanted to wait until we had a permanent city manager in place before we started. So for now we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Both St. James and city clerk Beth Cheeks said Tuesday the city had received no such notice.
