Beverly Hills hillside homeowners and duplex owners could see their trash bills rise by as much as $26.80 every two months starting July 1, 2027, after the Public Works Commission took up four solid waste pricing policies at a special meeting Thursday, Aug. 13.
Staff recommended the commission keep two existing breaks: a 20% discount for qualifying hillside properties and a billing cap that stops charging lot area above 40,000 square feet. Commissioners also weighed two options for phasing in rate increases and whether to formally reaffirm per-unit billing for duplexes.
The staff report, authored by Solid Waste Manager Colonel J. Burnley and Sustainability Program Analyst Jazmine Hadden, laid out the numbers. Under Option 1, a single-family home on a standard 6,500-square-foot lot would go from $107.90 to $116.61 bi-monthly, an $8.71 increase. Larger lots face steeper jumps: a 13,500-square-foot property would pay $242.19 (up $18.09), and a 20,000-square-foot lot would hit $358.80 (up $26.80).
Option 2 offers a slightly smaller first-year bump for that 6,500-square-foot lot ($7.15 instead of $8.71) but extends adjustments through Jan. 1, 2032.
Duplex owners currently pay $145.38 bi-monthly for two units combined. Under Option 1, that rises to $162.82.
Who qualifies for the hillside discount
To get the 20% break, a property must sit north of Sunset Boulevard in the city's designated Hillside Area, with more than 40% of the lot consisting of unusable hillside. Residents must apply. The city conducts a container inventory to verify eligibility, and hillside customers are capped at four containers total.
Fees carved out
Several charges previously bundled into the solid waste study will now be evaluated separately through a city-wide fee review. Those include special pickup fees, shopping cart retrieval fees, emergency site clean-up fees, vacant lot verification fees and container moving charges.
What happens next
Commission Chair Ben Ritterbush and Commissioner Nehoray reviewed the proposals as members of the Solid Waste Ad-Hoc Committee at meetings on July 14 and Aug. 5 before bringing them to the full commission. Residents can view the meeting agenda online.
The commission's direction will feed into an updated draft rate proposal. Staff will then seek City Council authorization to begin the Proposition 218 notice process, the legally required public notification before any rate increase takes effect. The city has not yet posted minutes from the Aug. 13 meeting. The broader goal is to restore the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund to its 50% reserve target by fiscal year 2030-31, ahead of a future franchise agreement.
