Republic Services agrees to $160,941 settlement after Rosemead billing audit; credits to customers to begin immediately

Rosemead city staff and consultants presented council with the results of a franchise billing audit and a negotiated resolution with Republic Services on Wednesday night.

MSW Consultants reported the audit’s initial worst‑case figure—presented earlier as roughly $240,000—was narrowed after Republic supplied additional invoicing evidence. The firm and city staff agreed the remaining incorrect billing that the audit could substantiate totaled $124,641; the settlement also includes $36,300 to reimburse the city for consultant and audit costs, for a combined $160,941 figure. "With the remaining information we received from Republic Services, it was reduced to $124,641," MSW’s consultant said during the presentation.

Republic Services’ general manager apologized at the council meeting and accepted responsibility for errors identified in the audit, saying the company would work with the city and MSW to make affected customers whole. "Our intention is to reimburse everybody who has been affected by these billing errors," the Republic representative said, and added that payments due for the audit and penalties would be processed within 60 days and that credits would be "substantially complete" by the end of the year. The company committed to finishing all credits by July 2027.

Council members pressed staff and the consultant on data sources, asking whether the performance and audit figures derive from Republic’s CRM or the city’s CRM and how the city verifies Republic’s reported fixes. Staff and the consultant said performance metrics use a combination of Republic’s reports (including photo proofs) and the city’s CRM, but they acknowledged limitations in the CRM’s ability to measure some response times precisely.

Council also questioned whether reimbursements should include interest for the time residents and businesses effectively had an interest‑free loan with the overcharges; city staff said the negotiated package does not include an explicit interest payment but that credits will be adjusted to account for CPI increases since the overcharge period. "The only thing that it includes is the CPI increase," a staff member responding for Republic said.

The council asked staff to continue quarterly billing reviews of commercial and multi‑family accounts, a requirement in the franchise agreement that the city said had not been implemented previously. Staff said Republic would now fund the immediate audit and that future audit frequency and oversight would be part of regular contract administration.

The council requested the item return in three months for a progress report on reimbursements and implementation of recommended QA/QC changes by Republic.