Guam Solid Waste Authority General Manager Irvine Slike said Thursday that the Public Utilities Commission may put the agency's rate case on the agenda for April to hear, recalling a conversation with the PUC's chief administrative law judge.
"We're going forward with the base case, in other words. I think by the year that we're asking for, it would actually be in January 2026, a $5 increase, from $30 to $35 (residential rate per month). And then whatever happens with the islandwide (trash collection bill), that would then drop," Slike said Thursday, during a GSWA board meeting.
Bill 30-38, sponsored by Sen. Sabina Perez, is the measure that would create a mandatory islandwide trash collection program on Guam, although it isn't the first time the concept has been proposed.
A similar measure was introduced last legislative term, but Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero – herself an advocate for islandwide trash collection – vetoed the bill over concerns with funding and implementation.
Proponents for mandating participation in islandwide trash collection services say it can curb illegal dumping and help keep rates low.
At the board meeting Thursday, Slike discussed how fast GSWA could implement the program if it were passed.
"I've put together a schedule of how fast we could implement islandwide if it were approved, let's say in September of this year, versus the cart ordering and then rolling out the carts into a five-day collection, which would match up with the entire program being completed in January 2027. But we would be able to bring in islandwide customers potentially in March 2026," Slike said Thursday.
One of the board members asked if GSWA would have enough vehicles to be able to adequately service the entire island. Slike said he believed so.
"And again, we've reconditioned some of our older fleet. They'll be available should we need additional trucks, which I don't think we will," Slike added.
Bill 30 went through a public hearing last week, where Slike testified that GSWA could offer a monthly residential rate at $22.50 per household per year with mandatory islandwide collection in tow, but added that rate is contingent on securing $4 million to purchase trash carts for new customers.
The governor provided GSWA with $10 million to support islandwide collection, but $4 million of that was tied up with buying additional carts, according to Slike. To recoup the $4 million within one year of operation, GSWA would need to continue with a $30 monthly residential rate, Slike stated during the public hearing.
Slike also discussed Bill 30 with the GSWA board on Thursday.
"What we've proposed is, (the Guam Environmental Protection Agency's) sort of tacit approval is, we could use some of the Recycling (Revolving) Fund to fund the cart purchase. Perhaps the rest of it would be available from the funds that the receiver has. We could look at a loan situation so that they would loan us the money for the carts, and then we would pay it back as soon as the issue with the receiver is resolved. … All of these are a moving target, but I think it's doable at this point," Slike said Thursday.