Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 10:14 a.m.
Clark County commissioners delayed for a second time taking action on garbage fee increases proposed by Republic Services today.
Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani objected to postponing the discussion and said she does not want county staff to negotiate with Republic.
Republic Services claimed it did not need county commissioners' approval to start charging valley residents more for garbage collection.
Republic proposed to increase residential garbage bills by 6.47 percent. Republic took in nearly $274 million in revenue last year from Southern Nevada.
Rival company Waste Management launched an unsolicited surprise counter offer to buy Republic Services on Monday for about $6.19 billion. Republic has an exclusive contract to collect residential and business trash in Clark County to 2035 after county commissioners extended its contract in 1999.
Waste Management's bid of $34 per share represents a 22 percent premium to Republic's recent closing price, but that stock had been off by 17 percent since rumors of Republic's deal to buy Allied Waste Industries, Inc.
Republic's $6.77 billion deal to buy Allied Waste had a "definite merger" agreement, the company said in a statement, but said it would carefully review Waste Management's proposal.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy