(The Center Square) – Spokane Valley is negotiating a new solid waste contract. Internal emails show that residents could save roughly $400,000 by using Spokane County’s service instead.
The Valley’s current contract with Sunshine Disposal & Recycling expires at the end of the year, so the city council spent months mulling over whether to renew or find a new provider.
While the proposed terms vary between the two, the city council ultimately decided to negotiate a new 20-year agreement with Sunshine. That vote occurred hours after city staff emailed Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb and others about potential savings with the county.
“I estimate that, with [Waste Management] removing the refuse tax from curbside if we went with the County, the total savings,” wrote Senior Administrative Analyst Morgan Koudelka, “would be $223,668 for all residential subscribers and $176,089 for commercial subscribers.”
The Center Square attempted to contact Koudelka several times but did not receive a response.
Koudelka wrote in his email that an environmental fee of roughly $40,000 would offset the amount but still result in savings of nearly $360,000; though, that applies to what the Valley could’ve saved with the county compared to Sunshine’s three-year extension.
Since the city council opted for a 20-year contract with higher rates, that $360,000 in potential savings could’ve inflated significantly. Despite receiving the email before the vote, Lamb didn’t forward it to Public Works Director Bill Helbig until after, according to the timestamp on the email.
Lamb and Helbig both briefed the council before the July 23 vote, so they may have discussed the savings prior to the meeting. Regardless, Lamb and Helbig did not disclose the potential savings to the council, which approved negotiating a 20-year contract that residents would ultimately pay.
According to the July 23 agenda, Sunshine’s current agreement required the city to notify Sunshine of “its intent to extend, terminate, or otherwise modify the agreement by August 1, 2024.” The council fulfilled this with its vote but could have also moved to negotiate with the county.
“Due to the Council’s direction on July 23, the City has not had further discussions with the County,” Communications Manager Jill Smith told The Center Square, “and at this stage, we cannot comment on the availability of the County’s services as an alternative.”
Smith said the city didn’t disclose the potential savings to the council because there wasn’t enough time to verify its accuracy before the meeting later that night. She pushed that the council had an opportunity to ask the providers about the differences in rates, but did not.
Sunshine and Spokane County provided the council with their rates on July 16 and July 23; however, they did not address the total cost to residents or highlight the $360,000 or more they could save.
“The majority of the Councilmembers agreed that despite Sunshine’s slightly higher rate, their proposal aligns more closely with the city’s priorities,” Smith wrote in an email.
Only Councilmembers Al Merkel and Ben Wick voted against entering the negotiations with Sunshine. Smith said city staff would return with the negotiated terms by the end of the year, which the agenda stated would be “under terms substantially the same” as provided by Sunshine.
Notably, but not intrinsically connected, Sunshine and its employees contributed to several council campaigns dating back to at least 2017, including Mayor Pam Hayley, Councilmember Rod Higgins and former Councilmember Arne Woodward, who lost the race to Merkel last year.
Given that Sunshine’s current agreement expires on Dec. 31, and the Valley isn’t negotiating with the county, it leaves the council with few options if it rejects Sunshine’s 20-year contract.
If the Valley rejects the proposed contract with enough time to negotiate another agreement, it could approve a commitment with the county without a lapse in service for residents.
