PORT VINCENT - When a church in Livingston Parish discovered that its trash collection costs had skyrocketed, it sought a more affordable option. Hoping to save money, the church now finds itself facing a financial burden it wasn't prepared for.

Whitney Marchan is the office manager at River of Life Worship Center in Port Vincent, where her dad and brother are both pastors.

"It's definitely our family ministry," Marchan said. 

Marchan said the church has been a loyal customer of Waste Management for 28 years. Marchan's mom, Lollie Ready, signed a new contract with the company in 2018 for about $120 a month for trash collection. Marchan isn't sure how the price ballooned so quickly, but she knew something needed to change after paying $459 for a two-yard dumpster collection in August. 

"Unbeknownst to me, we were in a contract with Waste Management that had just auto-renewed for two years," Marchan said.

By then, Marchan had already shopped around and settled into a new contract with Trash Rangers. She signed a one-year contract for $150 a month and a larger dumpster. 

"I was like, how do I sign up?" she said.

The church now has two contracts for trash collection. In response to a cancellation letter sent by Marchan, Waste Management said it is unable to match the price offered by the other company and instead offered a couple of options to terminate the contract. One of them is to pay $2,367, or about six months of service, which is a huge surprise to the church. 

"That's a lot of money that's definitely not in the budget this year," Marchan said.

Marchan said her mom, who signed the contract with Waste Management, died in 2020. Marchan said she brought this up to Waste Management.

"Is there any way we can negotiate that termination price, and she was like, 'No, I'm sorry,'" Marchan said. "We're just trying to save money where we can."

She's still hoping to negotiate with Waste Management. On Thursday, 2 On Your Side reached out to Waste Management and did not hear back by the time of this story's post date.