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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 was increased to $87 per ton; the actual average tonnage collected in the prior 12 months was 58,889.90 tons; and

 

WHEREAS, the agreement does not contain any other required price adjustments that affect the 2022 base level garbage service rates; and

 

WHEREAS, there are State and County taxes on residential solid waste in addition to base rates set by the City as provided in the agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Ramsey County Environmental Charge (CEC) is a percentage of the cost of service and must appear as a separate line item on a bill, and Ramsey County’s CEC rate is 28% for residential customers; and

 

WHEREAS, the Minnesota’s Solid Waste Management Tax is a percentage of the cost of service and must appear as a separate line item on a bill, and Minnesota’s Solid Waste Management Tax rate is 9.75% for residential customers; and

 

WHEREAS, each Hauler will add CEC and Minnesota Solid Waste Management Tax to the base level garbage service rates established by this ordinance; now therefore be it

 

RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Saint Paul does hereby ordain:

 

 

SECTION 2

 

The Saint Paul Legislative Code section Section 220.05 is hereby amended to read as follows:

 

Sec. 220.05. - Base level service and additional service options.

 

a.                     Base level service: Each RDU Residential Dwelling Unit (RDU) shall be charged one hundred (100) percent of the fixed costs and one hundred (100) percent of the variable costs for services. Base level service includes pickup of trash in one (1) of the service levels listed below and one (1) free cart change per year. The base level service includes pickup of two (2) bulky waste items and one (1) holiday tree for RDUs who choose a small trash cart, and three (3) bulky waste items and one (1) holiday tree for RDUs who choose a medium or large trash cart. The rates for additional service options shall be adopted by the council by resolution. Beginning January 1, 20212, the cost per month, excluding state and county tax, shall be as follows for base level services:

 

1.                     Small trash cart every other week .....14.2235

2.                     Small trash cart every week:                     17.0116.89

3.                     Medium trash cart every week:                     22.7223.37

4.                     Large trash cart every week:                     24.6025.85

 

b.                     Additional service options:

1.                     An RDU shall pay an additional fee for the disposal of overflow trash bags. An RDU may be charged for an overflow trash bag if its trash cart is not fully closed. An RDU is not required to notify the designated hauler for collection of overflow trash bags.

 

2.                     An RDU shall pay an additional fee for a yard waste subscription and must contact the designated hauler to arrange service. The designated hauler shall provide the subscribing RDU a yard waste cart. The subscription entitles an RDU to weekly collection of the contents of the yard waste cart and up to eight (8) compostable bags or yard waste bundles each week of the yard waste season for no additional fee.

3.                     An RDU who does not purchase a yard waste subscription may set out yard waste in compostable bags or in yard waste bundles for a per bag or per bundle fee. An RDU must provide at least forty-eight (48) hours' advance notice to the designated hauler for yard waste to be collected on the yard waste collection day.

4.                     An RDU shall pay an additional fee for all bulky items not included in the base level services.

 

5.                     An RDU may apply to the designated hauler for free walk-up service if all occupants residing at the RDU are physically unable to place trash at the collection location. An RDU who is not eligible for free walk-up service may apply to the designated hauler to receive walk-up service for a fee; there shall be an additional fee for any non- eligible RDU whose collection location is more than one hundred (100) feet from the public roadway.

 

6.                     An RDU, who fails to comply with set-out requirements, who requests the designated hauler to return to pick up trash or yard waste or requests off day service pickup from the designated hauler may receive such service for an additional fee.

 

7.                     Each RDU is entitled to receive one (1) cart change per year for no fee. If an RDU receives a second cart change in any calendar year, the RDU shall be charged a fee for that change. Replacement of a lost, stolen, or damaged cart due to misuse or neglect by the RDU shall be considered a cart change.

 

 

SECTION 3

 

This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force on January 1, 2022.

 

 

 

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