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A Washington waste collection company is now charging its Pierce County customers a so-called “tip fee” for their trash disposal.

成人X站 7 News spoke with several customers in Pierce County about the new fee.

Geff Ratcheson, a customer of , showed us his online bill Monday afternoon.

At the very bottom, it reads:

“Effective 3/1/2024 your bill will reflect a 2.11% increase in the tip fee at Landfill Recovery, Inc.”

: A waste collection company is now charging its Pierce County customers a “tip fee” for their trash disposal.

“I鈥檓 shocked. It鈥檚 hidden on the very bottom.”

The company explains to me what this fee is used for and why it’s needed now on at 5 p.m.

鈥� Louie Tran (@louie_tran)

No other explanation was shared near this statement within the online bill.

“Furious,” said Ratcheson. “It鈥檚 hidden on the very bottom of the PDF online bill.”

There鈥檚 no explanation of any sort,” he added.

成人X站 7 News spoke with another customer.

“I鈥檓 very surprised. It would have been nice to be informed or something in a letter or a statement. Not down at the very bottom in tiny writing,” Viola Stewart said.

“The only thing I was notified is that they鈥檙e going to change the pick-up dates, and I had no clue about being charged extra money,” she added.

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LeMay explains the waste collection ‘tip fee’

成人X站 7 News reached out to LeMay to get more details about this newly added fee.

“A tip fee in the solid waste and recycling industry is about tipping a container over and emptying that garbage,” , said.

It鈥檚 what we would charge for a customer based on the disposal to one of our facilities,” he continued.

Vahl said the fee is driven by inflation, capital projects along with other additional costs.

We asked Vahl if the company had notified customers in advance about the new tip fee.

“Absolutely. We complied with all our expectations from our regulatory bodies,” he said. “Communication is paramount with our customers. And we do use our bills on our website to notify them. And we make sure we follow the strict guidance that the , the UTC, or any of our contracted cities would expect us to communicate. So our internet is to communicate from multiple levels.”

Vahl said inflation was roughly at 5.7% when the tipping fee 鈥� 2.11% – was being evaluated.

成人X站 7 News spoke with residents about the fee

成人X站 7 News spoke with several residents about the company鈥檚 response to get their thoughts.

Ratcheson said the term “tip fee” is “a really inappropriate word.”

“There鈥檚 an awful lot of people out there, especially on this part of town, who unfortunately have mental health issues, wouldn鈥檛 even understand it, if they saw it,” he said. “Most people, who weren鈥檛 aware of the correct definition, were pretty angry like when I was when I first saw it.

We need more clear communication from LeMay to their customers. Again, it felt it was somewhat hidden. Most Americans, to the best of my knowledge, when I see the word tipping in that context, I think about a waiter or waitress or another service worker. I鈥檓 giving them a gratuity too,” he added.

Another resident said LeMay should be honest.

“I think they should be direct and honest and say if this is an increase for going to the landfill or wherever they鈥檙e going, then fine. But if they鈥檙e not telling us what it鈥檚 for, then I鈥檓 not happy about it,” Steward said.

I immediately think tip like at a restaurant. I鈥檓 giving an extra tip for the waitress for good service,” she continued.

Stewart told 成人X站 7 News that she often pays her trash, yard waste, and recycling bills on the phone.

“I always talk to somebody on the phone and they have never once mentioned they鈥檙e going to have a tip fee. Not once. And I鈥檓 talking to a human person,” she said.

成人X站 7 News spoke to another resident, who did not want to be on camera.

“They should have used different verbiage,” she said. “I wouldn鈥檛 have known had you not showed up at my house. I wouldn鈥檛 have known there was a tip fee.”

成人X站 7 News receives a letter written by Pierce County Planning & Public Works

成人X站 7 News reached out to leaders with Pierce County to learn more about how the tip fee was approved.

We received a letter written by that was addressed to .

The letter, dated September 1, 2023, notified the chair about the rate hike that would take effect on March 1, 2024.

Officials also said the county鈥檚 contract with LeMay calls for an annual solid waste fee change in March.

“ recommends a rate change to Council for approval,” an official explained. 鈥淭his annual rate change is meant to track with inflation and can either go up or down.鈥�

The spokesperson said, “the term ‘tip fee’ is misleading.”

“We can understand that calling the solid waste fee a tipping fee can be confusing and will be working the LeMay to change their verbiage going forward,” the official added.

“Each year, Pierce County Planning and Public Works Solid Waste Division is contractually obligated to propose a solid waste fee change to the Pierce County Council, in response to inflation rates and total tonnage of solid waste. Our recent rate increases have all been under the average inflation rate for the year based on regional Consumer Price Index. To support the underserved populations in our community, Pierce County facilitates community clean-up events and works with community partners (school districts, food banks, etc.) to provide disposal fee assistance to those in need,” , said in a statement to 成人X站 7 News.

成人X站 7 News asked the county if they have any procedures to ensure the price hikes do not get out of control and significantly impact residents, especially those who live within underserved communities.

“As the legislative body for Pierce County, the council can hold a hearing to determine if annually proposed adjustments are consistent with the inflationary formula and other terms of the . The council has done this several times in the past, most recently in 2021 for 2022 rates. This is the mechanism the council has to provide a check and balance to this process,” another spokesperson said.

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