Protect the ratepayers

Sunday, June 8, 2008 | 2:09 a.m.

The Clark County Commission is considering raising garbage rates to help Republic Services offset the costs of closing Sunrise Landfill.

As Tony Cook reported in Tuesday’s Las Vegas Sun, the county and Republic Services signed a contract in 1999 that said the garbage company would “take all actions necessary” to close the dump. In exchange, the county extended Republic’s contract by 15 years, giving it a monopoly in unincorporated Clark County through 2035.

Republic Services says the agreement implied that rate increases would help pay for the closure and wants to hike rates 2.2 percent. However, last year the Clark County district attorney’s office wrote that the contract was “in no way ambiguous” and that the garbage company is legally obligated to pay, not the ratepayers.

Despite the seemingly strong legal authority to deny Republic’s request, Commissioner Chip Maxfield has kept the issue alive. He says he is concerned that the county doesn’t have a strong enough legal position and that denying the company’s request could drag the county into a lengthy and costly lawsuit. Maxfield, who is not a lawyer, added that he doesn’t agree with the district attorney’s opinion.

The commission was supposed to vote Tuesday but Maxfield wanted more time to research the agreements. He shouldn’t need any more time. The issue should have been put to rest a long time ago. As Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani noted, “The 1999 agreement is quite clear. We go to court on weaker issues all the time, so why wouldn’t we on this?”

Indeed. The commission should be concerned about protecting ratepayers and not worried about a lawsuit from the garbage company. The commission should not approve a rate increase, and we would hope that Republic would be a good corporate citizen and live up to its end of the agreement.