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File #: Ord 21-42    Version: 1
Type: Ordinance Status: Passed
In control: City Council
Final action: 11/17/2021
Title: Amending Section 220.05 of the Legislative Code to set rates for base level garbage service to be effective January 1, 2022.
Sponsors: Amy Brendmoen
Attachments: 1. 2022-Suggested-REALLOCATION. E.Lien, 2. E.lien Email., 3. PW response
Title
Amending Section 220.05 of the Legislative Code to set rates for base level garbage service to be effective January 1, 2022.

Body

SECTION 1
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has a Residential Coordinated Trash Collection program; and

WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul (“the City”) entered into a Residential Solid Waste, Yard Waste, and Bulky Waste Collection Agreement (“the Agreement”) with the St. Paul Hauler’s (“the Consortium”) for the collection of residential trash; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Agreement, the City Council adopted rates for base level garbage service that were effective beginning on October 1, 2018; and

WHEREAS, Section (3) of the Agreement provides that the rates for Trash Collection Costs and Disposal Costs shall be adjusted annually; the Agreement requires the City Council to approve any required price adjustments; and

WHEREAS, the most recent annual rate adjustment was approved by the Council on November 18, 2020 for rates effective January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021; and

WHEREAS, Section 3.1.3 of the Agreement provides that the nonfuel portion of the Trash Collection Costs shall be subject to an increase varying with the increase of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the Midwest Region - All Items Less Energy (CPI-U) for the previous twelve-month period; and the percent change in the CPI-U for the period of July 2020 to June 2021 was 5.8 percent; and

WHEREAS, the maximum annual change increase in the CPI-U of the trash collection costs in the Agreement is 3%, which is a required price adjustment; and

WHEREAS, Section 3.1.5 of the agreement provides that the Disposal Cost shall be adjusted annually based on the changes to the hauler ‘net contracted rate’ for disposal costs at the trash disposal facility and the actual average tonnages collected in the prior 12 months, which is a required price adjustment; and

WHEREAS, the ‘net contracted rate’ for disposal costs at the trash disposal facility...

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Date NameDistrictOpinionCommentAction
11/18/2021 10:13 PMEric Lein -- #4 -- Regarding PW Fixed Costs Response   EXAMPLE: A single-family household that wants a second cart pays FAR less for two carts than a duplex pays for two carts. The single family pays lower hauler fees and just one City administrative fee. The single family's 2-cart price advantage reflects the fact that fixed costs for a second, third or fourth cart are negligible. This No-Sharing Penalty has thousands of multi-family households subsidizing single-family households while over-paying haulers for non-existent fixed costs. +1
11/10/2021 8:40 AMEric Lein -- #3 Against AS CURRENTLY ADOPTED FOR 2021 and PROPOSED FOR 2022: Households that produce MORE Trash are rewarded with LOW per-gallon fees. Households that produce LESS Trash are penalized with HIGH per-gallon fees. ///--||--\\\ REALLOCATION RESULTS: Grand Total Fees to be paid by households to haulers for each cart size (including collection, disposal, billing, bulkies, county tax, state tax) will be -- (1) 35-Gal EOW @ $11.53/month [savings vs proposed rate = $8.24/mo]; (2) 35-Gal Weekly @ $18.49/month [savings = $4.78/mo]; (3) 64-Gal Weekly @ $30.95/month [savings = $1.24/mo]; (4) 96-Gal Weekly @ $43.68/month [added cost = $8.07/mo]. /// Please protect consumers and the environment via an EQUITABLE GARBAGE PROGRAM that encourages and rewards conservation of natural resources. /// Again, please refer to my E-MAIL and its ATTACHED FILE that shows detailed calculations. +7
11/10/2021 8:17 AMEric Lein -- #2 Against Please adopt "Sec 220.05(a) Base Level Fees" that are substantially equivalent to the "Reallocated Fees" shown here: (1) 35-Gallon EOW @ $8.37; (2) 35-Gal, Weekly @ $13.42; (3) 64-Gal, Weekly @ $22.47; (4) 96-Gal, Weekly @ $31.71. /// This schedule of Reallocated Fees charges all customers equally on a per-gallon basis. For example: LOW Wasters pay $5.56 per Month per 1,000 gallons annual capacity; HIGH Wasters pay $5.56 per Month per 1,000 gallons annual capacity. /// Haulers will collect the same total revenue with Proposed or Reallocated fees -- $25,952,978 per year. /// Haulers' bottom line will not be affected unless thousands of customers reduce their garbage volume (supposedly a good thing) and switch to smaller carts. /// Instead of perpetuating disincentives, thank you for enacting incentives that will work to protect the environment. /// PLEASE SEE MY E-MAILED TESTIMONY and its ATTACHED .PDF FILE with two pages of fine print and many detailed calculations. +11 2
11/10/2021 8:04 AMEric Lein -- #1 Against The fee schedule is not equitable, and flies in the face of City Ordinance Sec. 357.05 that requires trash prices to be “in proportion to the amount or weight of mixed municipal solid waste collected and shall differ significantly and incrementally one from another.” The City’s Organized Trash Collection Program does not meet this requirement. /// Households that produce MORE trash are rewarded with LOW per-gallon fees. /// Households that produce LESS trash are penalized with HIGH per-gallon fees. /// For example: (a) LOW Wasters pay: $12.13 per Month per 1,000 gallons annual capacity [Small cart; EOW]; and HIGH Wasters pay: $4.38 per Month per 1,000 gallons annual capacity [Large cart; Weekly] /// High-trash-volume customers are subsidized by excessive fees charged to lower-waste and zero-waste customers. /// St. Paul's existing fee structure works against city, state and national efforts to REDUCE trash volume. +6 -1