HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-07-30; City Council; 8219-1; Trash Collection Rate Studya 8 8 s u
4B# 8219-1
MTG. 7/30/85
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TITLE:
TRASH COLLECTION RATE STUDY
CITY MGR.~
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CIT, OF CARLSBAD - AGENDA BILL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Review and approve Trash Rate Committee report.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
Council, at its meeting of June 18, 1985, appointed a seven-member committee
to conduct a study of trash collection rates and practices in Carlsbad. The
committee was tasked to determine if rates in Carlsbad are competitive;
review levels of service as compared to other cities; review complaints
filed with the city over the past year; review the method of billing and
collection for trash service to determine if the city is receiving
adequate reimbursement and to report back to the Council within 30 days.
That report is attached for Council's review.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
EXHIBITS :
1. Agenda Bill #8219
2. Trash Rate Committee Report
I
CIT'--3F CARLSBAD - AOEND" BILL
I TRASH COLLECTION RATE STUDY
DEPT. HD. /
CITY AlTYM
CITY MGR~,
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lECOMMENDED ACTION:
That Council-appoint a committee and approve the scope of work for a study of trash collection rates in Carlsbad.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
At Council meeting on June 4 the City Manager was asked to
recommend a citizen committee to conduct a study of trash
collection rates.
Scope of Work
It is suggested that the following scope of work be assigned
to the committee:
1. To conduct a study of trash collection rates and
practices in San Diego County cities and to determine if rates in Carlsbad are competitive. Said rate study to include residential, commercial and industrial.
2. To conduct a review of levels of service offered in
Carlsbad compared to other cities.
3. To review complaints filed with the city over the past year regarding trash collection services.
4. To review the method of billing and collection for trash
service and to determine if the city is receiving
adequate reimbursement for services rendered to trash collection contractor.
5. To report back to Council in 30 days with findings and
recommendations.
Committee
It is suggested that Council consider appointing the following persons to the committee. Representatives from:
Chamber of Commerce Mobile Home Association Homeowners Association Village Merchants Association Ex-Officio Members:
ACT Roger Greer, Utilities Dept.
League of Women Voters Jim Elliott, Finance Dept.
Dan Hentschke, Asst. City Atty
Ed Boersmap, Coast Waste
TRASH RATE COMMITTEE
Report to City Council
Review of Trash Rates and Services
in the City of Carlsbad
3
This report respectfully submitted by:
Robert Holmes - Chairman
Truman Clark
William Dominguez
Dr. Francis Lantz
Don Prest
J. S. Teeter
Richard Yaeger
This report prepared with the acknowledged assistance of the
following city staff:
Mr. Vincent Biondo, City Attorney
Mr. Frank Mannen, Assistant City Manager
Mr. Roger Greer, Director, Utilities & Maintenance Department
Mr. James Elliott, Finance Director
Mr. Joseph Eggleston, Administrative Assistant
Utilities & Maintenance Department
Ms. Joanne Cunningham, Departmental Secretary
Utilities & Maintenance Department
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Study of trash collection rates in San Diego County
to determine if the rates in Carlsbad are competative
Study of levels of service compared to other cities
Review of complaints received over the past year on
file with the City of Carlsbad
Review of method of billing and collection and the
adequacy of service to offset city costs
Senior Citizen/Mobile Home Park Discount/Rebate
Summary of Committee Findings and Recommendations
to City Council
4
8
CARLSBAD RATE STUDY COMMITTEE TRASH RATE SURVEY RANKING - NORTH COAST CITIES ONLY
RATES EFFECTIVE AS OF JULY I, 1985
RANK RANK RANK
CITY COMPANY RES COMM 'L COMPOSITE
BONSALL sws CARLSBAD CWM
DEL MAR CWM
ENCINITAS sws FALLBROOK EDCO
OCEANSIDE OSIDE DISP OL IVENHAI N CWM OLIVENHAIN sws
SAN LUIS REY sws
SAN MARCOS (CITY) SWS SAN MARCOS (COUNTY) SWS
SOLANA BEACH CWM
SOLANA BEACH sws
VISTA (CITY) sws
VISTA ( COUNTY 1 sws
14
2 5 4
8
9 10 7 13
3
11
6
15
1
12
15 1 12 7
11 6
10 4 13 8
14 5
2
3
9
15
1 8 3
11 7
9 6 14 4
13 5
10 2
12
WEIGHT
AVE %
121%
8 6% 109%
90% 109% 9 3%
98% 9 1% 121% 9 1%
119% 90%
98% 89%
109%
1
7
c .. I _-
CITY
BONSALL
CARLSBAD CHULA VISTA
CORONADO DEL MAR-
EL CAJON ENC I N I TAS
ESCONDI DO
ESCOND I DO FALLBROOK
LA MESA
LEMON GROVE NATL CITY
OCEANS1 DE OLIVENHAIN
OLIVENHAIN
PALA POWAY
POWAY
RAMONA RCHO BRDO SAN LUIS REY
SAN MARCOS
SAN MARCOS
SOLANA BEACH SOLANA BEACH
SPRING VALLEY
SPRING VALLEY
VALLEY CTR
VISTA
VISTA CO OF SD
CARLSBAD RATE STUDY COMMITTEE
TRASH RATE SURVEY RANKING - SIMILAR CITIES
RATES EFFECTIVE AS OF JULY 1, 1985
COMPANY
sws CWM
CV SAN
EDCO
CWM
DAILY sws
ESC DISP sws
EDCO
EDCO
EDCO EDCO OSIDE DISP
CWM sws sws sws
SCA
RAMONA sws sws sws sws
CWM sws
SCA
EDCO sws sws sws DAILY
RANK
RES
28
8 3 1 13
9 11 2
26 20 4
5 6 21
22 17
29 18 19
25
27 10 23 14
31 16 12
30 7 24
15
RANK RANK
COMM 'L COMPOSITE
28 6 6 2 22
13 12
18 28 22
7 8 16
12 20
11 29 26
24 29 17 25 16
27 12 10 26 2 21
10
20
3
28 7 5 2
18 11 12 10 27
21 6 7
11 17
21 14 29
22 22
27 17 26 13 25 13
21 21 7 26 9 22 9
WEIGHT
AVE %
121% 86%
87% 7 4%
109% 9 2%
90% 9 2% 120%
109%
87% 87%
9 1% 93% 9 8%
91% 121% 118%
116% -118% 87% 121%
91% 119% 90% 98% 120%
79% 54% 89%
109% 79%
2
July 15, 1985
Review of levels of service offered in Carlsbad compared with 24 other
cities in San Diego, Ca County.
COMMERCIAL: This service is available with 3 cubic yard and/or 40 cubic yard containers and collected on an as needed
basis. Carlsbad service is competitive in this area.
RESIDENTIAL: Carlsbad is one of only 3 cities offering unlimited
pick-up on a once a week basis. Four cities limit
collection to 10 bags per unit. No information is
available on the other 18 cities.
Mobile Home Discounts: This service is available in 32% of the cities studied and is not available in
Carlsbad.
mobile home customers.
This probably creates discontent with non-
Senior Citizen Discounts: This serivce is only offered
in Chula Vista, National Citv and Pomona. The service
is restricted to one bag a week at $3.93/month.
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9
All of the trash related complaints on file with the City of
Carlsbad from July 1, 1984 through July 1, 1985 were reviewed.
The Utilities & Maintenance Department received six complaints
during that time frame and are summarized as follows:
One resident's trash was not picked up because she had not signed
up to pay for her trash. That was resolved by the citizen placing
a call to Coast Waste Management and was due to lack of knowledge.
Two of the complaints were from citizens whose trash was reportedly
missed.
the citizens' trash was promptly removed.
Coast Waste Management was contacted by our office and
One complaint was that only a portion of the trash that was set out
was removed. After contacting Coast Waste Management, it was discovered
that the citizen had set out 20 bags and was beyond a single pick up
capacity. Coast Waste Management advised the Utilities & Maintenance
office that the citizen should set the rest of the bags out for the
next week and they would be picked up. The Utilities & Maintenance
Department office advised the citizen and followed up the next week
to see if the trash had been removed, it was.
One complaint was regarding smelly liquid left behind by the trash
truck.
Utilities & Maintenance office, the street was cleaned and the citizen
satisfied.
After a conversation with Coast Waste Management from the
There are other complaints which go directly to the Coast Waste
Management offices. These complaints are handled promptly. These
are mostly reports of trash being missed.
4
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TRASH RATE COMNITTEE
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Re: Hethod of billing and collection. Adequacy of Service to offset City costs.
7-17-85 Meeting with Jim Elliott, Finance Director City of Carlsbad
The City of Carlsbad receives income from Coast Waste Kanagenent in the form of a 2$ Franchise Fee based on Coast Waste Nanagenent's gross income. Gross income for the yeas
1983 and 19% was approximately $1,742,663 x .O2 = $34,85fi.
Another source of revenue is the interest earned on money collected by the City for Coast Waste knageLent, until
said funds are disbursed to Coast Waste Nanagement.
2% Franchise E'ee $34,635 Interest Income 3,000
Total Income $37 9 835
The total cost for billing the water, sewer and trash for the years 1983 and I984 were as follows, based on 12,000 monthly subscribers.
Staff Time 8 85,000 Postage @ .I8 25,000 Printed Katerials 10,000
Total $1 20,000
(bills)
5
f. ..
Total number of account6 billed for Coast Waste Management is 7,700 or 6556. 6% of the f)120,000 total expense is $78,000. Coast Waste Eanagement's share of the cost of billing is l/3 or $26,000. Additional costs to the City of Carlsbad incurred by Coast Waste Management, are inspection fees. Per Chuck-Mitchell, Street Superintendant, this is approximately two hours per week, or approximately #3,OOO annually. This cost would be borne by the City of Carlsbad for any company that collects for the City, Currently, it appears that the contract with Coast Waste Nanagement is running smoothly.
All inside audits are paid for by the City of Carlsbad, as is
the case with other franchises where Carlsbad receives a fee. Outside audits are paid for by Coast Waste Management. Coast Waste Management's bookkeeping is done on a manual basis. To date the City has been satisfied with their records.
Concerns of Jim Elliott, Finance Director, are:
1, No built in factor for inflation in the contract,
2. Carlsbad receives little or no revenue from Coast Waste Kanagement, business license fee. The fees that are collected from the franchise fee offset their billing expenses.
They have a franchise fee in lieu of a
3. There is no direct correlation between the cost to the City, for billing, staff and postage, and the franchise fee the City receives.
The City of Oceanside, Carlsbad Cable T.V. and Solid Waste Disposal indicate that a rate of -42 to .46 per bill is within reason.
6
Mr. Holmes reported that thereis not currently a Senior Citizen
or a Mobile Home Park discount in Carlsbad.
some of the neighboring cities do have one or the other of those
discounts. Mr. Holmes stated that he did not see a need for
either of those discounts in Carlsbad at the present time.
asked for comments from the other members of the committee.
He reported that
He
After a brief discussion, the general consensus of the committee
was that there did not seem to be a need for either a Senior
Citizen or a Mobile Home Park discount in Carlsbad at this time.
7
TRASH RATE COMMITTEE
SUMMARY /RECOMMENDATIONS
The committee determined that the trash rates in Carlsbad are
competitive and very good as compared to neighboring cities.
There is no reason to change them.
The committee determined that Carlsbad's level of service is quite
high and rated it well above average.
to change the way collection is handled.
There is no recommendation
The committee feels that there is no need to change the manner in
which complaints are handled.
displeasure with trash collection as it is handled now.
There seems to be little or no citizen
The billing method, in the committee's opinion, is presently
being handled partially by the City on water billings and
partially by Coast Waste Management in those areas not served by Carlsbad water. The fees charged Coast Waste Management are
adequate to cover the City's expense for mailing and overhead.
There does not seem to be any reason, at present, to change the
method of billing or increase charges to Coast Waste Management.
The committee recommends that no Senior Citizen or Mobile Home Park
discount be offered at present.
8
Agenda Item #8
July 30, 1985
Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Carlsbad
1200 Elm Avenue Carlsbad, CA 92008
This communication is being submitted as a separate report and should be acknowledged as he observations and recommendations of a concerned citizen that served on the Trash Rate Study Committee.
The most apparent deficiencies in the solid waste collection agreement for the city appear to have evolved over a 14 year period of non-competition. While the rate and service level have remained comparatively stable, the city has not improved its position in terms of full-cost recovery, protection against inflation or development of adequate service or complaint policies which are an integral part of the agreement.
Although the agreement contains a formula that protects the vendor from the impacts of inflation, no like protection is provided for the city administrative costs in the flat
franchise fee. The current fee may at this date not cover
the full cost of administering this agreement! The current
franchise fee is one of the two lowest in the County
(National City also has a 2% fee).
Another issue that should be of concern to the Council is the lack of administrative policies governing the cities relationship with a multi-million dollar franchise. The
complaint referral and recording procedures are not formalized to my knowledge, and are largely left to the self policing effort of the franchisee. Complaints submitted or attached to bills do not always reach the Utilities
Maintenance Department, and complaints filed with city
offices are infrequently recorded. Since the quality of
service as evidenced by complaint volume is an important
part of the agreement, a formal tracking system should be
put in place.
Honorable Mayor and City Council
July 30, 1985
Page 2
In conclusion, since the committee was so overwhelming
convinced that the level, quality and cost of service provided by the current franchise is adequate, it would seem an opportune time for the Council to "test the water"
by directing that a request for proposals be let to
qualified vendors in order to gather information that will
aid in future franchise negotiations.
I would also suggest that in the best interest of
Carlsbad citizens the Council direct the Utilities Maintenance Director to modify the current agreement to:
1. Increase the franchise fee from 2% to 4%,
or adopt a full-cost recovery policy.
2. Formulate and implement a central complaint
recording and referral policy.
3. Formulate a low income senior program with
administrative responsibilities (verification,
etc.) provided by the new Senior Services
Department.
4. Eliminate drag-on box service from the
franchise agreement and open these services
to free market rates.
Thank you for your consideration of these recommendations.
E. W. "Bill" Dominguez
4378 Adams
Carlsbad, CA 92008