After five years without a rate increase, Chehalis residents Emily Ponyah and her husband Mike, who have six children, were incredulous when they saw their bill for recent curbside garbage and recycling collection from LeMay INC.
Emily Ponyah called it a “shock” to see the price increase without any change in their services.
As previously reported in The Chronicle, the garbage collection rates were last raised in 2017 when they saw an increase by 15%.
After that contract expired last August, the company proposed a 30% increase for the new contract with Chehalis, which the council rejected.
Based on consumer price index increases in the state, LeMay came back with a 25% rate hike proposition — for residential and commercial collection — which the city council approved 5-2, with councilors Kate McDougall and Kevin Carns voting it down.
For curbside pick-up of trash from regular-sized bins, the cost rose from $17.23 to $21.53 per can in February. Exact quotes for services, residential or commercial, can be found online at https://lewis.lemayinc.com.
McDougall at the time said she wished the contract was more competitive, as LeMay is the only company offering the service locally. Carns added, “inflation is rough on families.”
Such is the case for Ponyah’s family, who has two trash cans and one recycling bin. LeMay offers every other week pick-up for recycling and weekly pick-up for trash. With eight people living in her house, Ponyah said she already has to visit the Lewis County Transfer Station during weeks without recycling.
“I just think we’re probably going to cancel our service and load our stuff and go to the dump,”
Ponyah said, later adding, “With climate being the way it is … we should encourage (recycling).”
She and her family have lived in the city limits for about nine years and have used the same bins as long as Ponyah can remember.
“There’s been no update to service,” she said. “We haven’t got new trash bins. In years and years and years, nothing’s ever changed.”
A spokesperson for LeMay did not respond to a request for comment before The Chronicle’s press deadline.
