Using bully tactics

Thursday, July 3, 2008 | 2:09 a.m.

Republic Services, which enjoys a monopoly on garbage hauling in the Las Vegas Valley, should be grateful for the long-term contracts it holds in Southern Nevada. Those contracts yielded $34 million in profit for the company last year. That is not bad for any business operating in a region that is struggling with a prolonged housing slump.

But in a clear sign that Republic is getting too big for its britches, the company is assuming the role of a bully in a disagreement with Clark County over how to pay for the remaining cleanup of the shuttered Sunrise Landfill. More specifically, Republic has threatened to unilaterally raise residential garbage bills nearly 6.5 percent to pay for the estimated $30 million it will take to finish the job.

As reported Wednesday by Tony Cook in the Las Vegas Sun, the company has informed county commissioners that if they do not agree to raise residential garbage bills by 81 cents a quarter, Republic will increase each bill by $2.37. The increase would be in the tipping fee portion of the bill that Republic charges to cover the cost of garbage disposal at its landfills and transfer stations.

Evidence of bully tactics could be found in a June 19 letter from Bob Coyle, the company’s area president, written to County Manager Virginia Valentine. “If the county refuses to negotiate in good faith with Republic, Republic will be forced to invoke the provision allowing it to unilaterally increase tipping fees to recoup the cleanup costs,” Coyle wrote.

Talk about nerve. Republic agreed to clean up the Sunrise Landfill when the county gave it a generous contract extension in 1999, a deal that runs through 2035.

It was estimated back then that the cleanup would cost $36 million. That cost has increased by $30 million, the amount Republic wants to pawn off on valley residents.

Cost estimates go up all the time for all sorts of things. Ask government agencies about the cost overruns they often must pay for to construct public buildings. It is no different with the cost to seal landfills.

If Republic wants to accuse someone of acting in bad faith, it should look at itself. Republic, dump the bully act.