Discussion:
In January of 2019 the City Council approved a contract extension with Republic Services to provide refuse and recycling removal service to residential properties in the city. The contract extends until December 31, 2022.
The contract sets forth terms for the establishment of rates payable by residential properties to Republic Services. The portion of the rates collected by Republic to pay their costs (Collection and Recycling Fees) has already been established by contract.
The recycling processing fee, is subject to negotiation each year and is subject to change based on the actual cost incurred by Republic to sort and process recyclables. The recycling processing fee was new in 2019 and came in to existence because while we used to be able to sell recyclables for a profit - the market has fallen off sharply and it now costs more to process recyclables than they can be sold for. The recycling fee is proposed to be increased from .21/month to .43/month. This increase is due entirely to the continued loss of revenue from the sale of recyclable materials.
The disposal fee, is subject to negotiation each year and is subject to change based on the actual cost incurred by Republic to dispose of refuse collected in the city. The city agreed in 2019 to allow Republic to dispose of waste at their landfill - which resulted in a savings to rate payers during 2019. Disposal rates are proposed to increase 3%, as follows:
|
2019 (Current) |
2020 |
| Disposal 30g/Mo |
4.26 |
4.39 |
| Disposal 60g/Mo |
6.01 |
6.19 |
| Disposal 90g/Mo |
7.74 |
7.97 |
Compared to other options in the area, the 3% option with Republic is significantly less expensive, and is growing at a slower pace between 2019 and 2020 than other disposal options: Hennepin County is increasing costs at their facility by 8.8% and Washington/Ramsey is increasing by 18%.
Another point of note is that refuse and recycling rates were decreased for those residences with 60 or 90 gallon containers between 2018 and 2019. These rate increases put rates for those rate payers back in line with 2018 rates.
Republic Services representatives will be here in Q1 of 2020 to deliver 2019 report and to answer any further questions Council may have.