The Santa Barbara City Council unanimously approved a new agreement with longtime trash-collection partner MarBorg worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 15 years. According to the new contract, the city will continue to pay MarBorg the flat rate of $18,695,000 over the next two years (with a one-time adjustment for fuel costs in 2025), with the rate gradually increasing from 2026 through the remainder of the agreement, for a total sum of more than $300 million.
After operating in Santa Barbara for more than 80 years, MarBorg took over the local trash-hauling territory in the early 2000s, eventually winning exclusive rights to the entire city in 2009, firmly entrenching itself as Santa Barbara County’s only remaining full-service trash and recycling operation. Last July, the City Council opted not to open up the contract for competitive bids, further cementing the company’s hold on local waste removal services.
After a few months of negotiations, the city returned with the updated contract for council approval on Tuesday. City Environmental Services Manager Lorraine Cruz Carpenter presented the new franchise agreement, which will take the place of the current contract when it expires on June 7.