Amador County - The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a new rate adjustment methodology for each of the two Amador County waste haulers. “Due to numerous requests for rate changes, and due to dynamic forces affecting the economics of garbage collection and the disposal businesses, the rate adjustment requests were getting hard to keep consistent,” said Solid Waste Program Manager Jim McHargue. As a result, an Ad Hoc Committee was convened to develop a systematic method to analyze haulers’ rate requests. The result was a new Rate Adjustment Methodology, or RAM. The RAM is a complex hybrid model for the next four years. The first year will be cost-based and the following three years will be index based, consisting of five separate indices: labor, vehicle maintenance, vehicle replacement and diesel fuel. Fuel became the main topic of conversation during the presentation. Supervisor Boitano questioned whether the model was feasible when considering the unpredictable cost of fuel. According to Public Works Director Larry Petersen, the program effectively factors in the cost of fuel increases and decreases. Paul Molinelli of ACES Waste Management said he was satisfied with the methodology. A motion to approve the new rate plan carried 5-0. The schedule to apply for annual rate adjustments requires the hauler to provide the detailed and index rate applications no later than March 15th. The new rates will become effective July 1st, 2009. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).