Stanislaus closed garbage burner. How does it affect garbage service rates?
Stanislaus County is considering the first substantial garbage-rate increases since closure of the garbage-burning plant.
A resident might expect the shift to 100% landfill disposal to mean a dramatic rate adjustment, but what’s proposed for county customers is around a 2.3% increase.
The new rates in unincorporated areas of the county are set for a public hearing June 23. If approved, they would go into effect July 1.
The Covanta waste-burner operated near Crows Landing for 36 years before the financially unstable facility closed in December 2024.
The incinerator burned about half the waste collected from cities and the county service areas. Today, the solid waste is diverted to the adjacent Fink Road Landfill.
The county is divided into four service areas, with Bertolotti Disposal serving Salida, Keyes, Crows Landing, Grayson and Westley (Area 1); Gilton Solid Waste handling the carts in Knights Ferry and Valley Home (Area 2); Turlock Scavenger serving Denair, Empire, Hickman and La Grange (Area 3); and Turlock Scavenger also serving unincorporated areas of Turlock (Area 4).
Each year, the county sets the maximum rates that can be charged by the haulers. The proposed increases are 2.30% for Bertolotti customers, from $50.84 to $52 a month; 2.21% for Gilton service, to $42 a month; 2.27% for Turlock Scavenger in Area 3, to $59.25 a month; and 2.17% for Turlock Scavenger in Area 4, to $55.80 a month.
Commercial bin rates are going up 2.59% in Area 1, while increasing 2.43% in Area 2 and 2.75% in Areas 3 and 4.
Robert Kostlivy, county environmental resources director, said by email that the landfill disposal costs are only one component of the rate structure. The disposal costs amount to 12% of the haulers’ operating expenses.
Reports suggest the county expected to use funds from closure of the garbage burner for the transition to bigger landfill operations.
The county received $1.68 million of a settlement from termination of the Covanta agreement and $3.36 million in funds remaining in a resource recovery account. According to a 2024 update on ending the Covanta agreement, the county intended to spend those dollars on additional equipment and staffing for a larger landfill operation, “which will help stabilize the garbage rates to the residents of Stanislaus County.”
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. June 23, in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St., Modesto.
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 3:30 PM.
