Cashmere Council holds the line on garbage rates, calls surcharge ‘corporate tax, not service cost’

CASHMERE — The City Council voted November 24 to deny a request from Waste Management to increase local garbage rates to offset additional corporate business-and-occupation (B&O) taxes imposed by the state.

Waste Management had asked the city to approve a rate adjustment related to a state B&O tax increase targeting large companies with annual revenues over $500 million. They also asked for approval of a one-year, 0.03% surcharge to retroactively cover the two months between the tax taking effect and the company’s notice to the city.

Mayor Jim Fletcher noted that while Waste Management is entitled to request a pass-through increase, the Council is not required to approve it.

“This was a corporate tax increase, not an operating cost increase,” Fletcher said during the discussion. Cashmere Treasurer Kay Jones also confirmed that the company had already received a routine cost-of-living rate adjustment earlier this year, which cities must approve when within the contractually defined range.

Unlike routine annual rate adjustments — which must be granted when they fall between 1 and 4 percent — corporate tax pass-through requests are discretionary. The council has the ability to reject them outright.

Councilmembers agreed there was no obligation for ratepayers to cover additional taxes assessed on large corporations. The request, they noted, was unrelated to local service or operating costs.

The vote to deny the request was unanimous, and took place after only a very short discussion. Waste Management may submit another request in the future, but city officials said the same criteria will apply: Only operational costs that affect local service justify rate increases to customers.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media