Here s Why Your Trash Is Being Picked Up Late in Philly

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1 Philadelphia Magazine Here s Why Your Trash Is Being Picked Up Late in Philly A new report says 80,000 households have not had their garbage picked up on time recently. By Holly Otterbein May 7, 2015 at 1:06 pm Has your trash been picked up late in the past few months? If so, you re not alone. In the last two years, a whopping 80,000 households in Philadelphia have not had their trash collected on time on any given week, according to a new report by City Controller Alan Butkovitz. Butkovitz has a theory about why this is happening. He says the city needs 324 trash compactors a/k/a garbage trucks but at times it's been equipped with only 240. Currently, 288 vehicles are on deck. Butkovitz says a third of the city's compactors are also outdated, ranging from 10 to 20 years old. That's why the city's trash collection rate has dropped from 96 percent in to 85 percent in , Butkovitz says. To make matters worse, he says this has increased the city's overtime costs for trash collection from $1.2 million to $3.5 million annually. Trending: Shameless Philly TV Lawyer Shills Self to Amtrak Crash Victims There is some good news, though. "The Streets Department's management should be recognized for making sure that all of the trash is eventually collected even with having fewer resources over the years," says Butkovitz in a

2 statement. "When there have been delays, the streets department has contacted residents to provide an updated collection schedule." Sponsored Content Suggested: Neighborhood Spotlight: Haddonfield Offers Small-Town Charm, Great Accessibility Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter, says Philadelphia will be getting 30 new trash compactors in July. "The Streets Department began to deal with the compactor issue proactively last year when it secured funding for additional trucks," he says. "In addition, we plan to lease 20 more trucks in June and [we've established] a second shift for some employees, thereby reducing overtime." He says the city's trash compactors have suffered from wear-and-tear due during the past two rough winters, and that they also aged considerably when the budget was tight in the Great Recession. on Twitter.

3 Talking trash: Older, fewer trucks costing Phila. up to $3.5M in overtime May 7, 2015, 12:23pm EDT Fran Hilario The fewer number of trash trucks in Philadelphia has caused the city Streets Department's on-time collection rate to have an 11 percent decrease since The reduced number of trash trucks in Philadelphia are costing the city up to $3.5 million in overtime costs, according to a report by City Controller Alan Butkovitz. The fewer number of trucks has caused the department to have about an 85 percent on-time collection rate in fiscal 2014 and Except for 2010, the rate has been above 93 percent in the last 10 years, according to the report. Trash is supposed to be picked up by 3 p.m. The city Streets Department needs about 324 trucks to meet budgetary and operation goals, but it operates with about 240, a 30 percent decrease, according to the report. The fewer trucks have resulted in 80,000 homes that have not had their trash picked up on time or on the regular scheduled pick-up day. The reduction in trucks has resulted in increased overtime costs needed to collect the city s trash $3.5 million in fiscal 2015 and $3.1 million last year, an increase of more than 150 percent from previous years. About a third of the trucks are between years old; the ones removed from service have not yet been replaced, according to the report. It's costing the city in additional funds over the last two years to maintain at least the same level of services. Philadelphia s fiscal 2016 budget has about $4.9 million to replace the trucks this year, and $7 million a year until 2021 so that about 40 trucks will be replaced each year. At this projected rate, it would take about eight years for the trash compactor fleet to be replaced with new vehicles, the report says. With trash compactors expected to last eight years, the funding would have to continue after the eight years so that the current problem does not occur again.

4 Butkovitz suggested looking at other cities operations to reach maximum results, such as Baltimore s One Plus One system that moved the city from a six-day operation to a four-day, ten-hour work week. Baltimore s system decreased the number of person hours for trash pickup by more than 5,000 hours, while decreasing the amount of vehicles needed by 12. Prior to the new system, Baltimore had an on-time collection rate of 60 percent; it increased to 92 percent in Fran Hilario covers hospitality, restaurants and takes on general assignments and breaking news.

5 Streets Department looking to end Philly's trash pick-up problems There is an end in sight for trash pick-up troubles in Philadelphia. By Vernon Odom Wednesday, May 06, 2015 PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- There is an end in sight for trash pick-up troubles in Philadelphia. City trash trucks were in the repair shop Wednesday, soon to be back out on the streets. But the city's fleet of trash compactors is at a record low level, more than 80 below the 327 needed to keep up the targeted 97% on-time collection rate. The Streets Department confirms that the fleet is down 25% over the last 2 years dropping ontime collections citywide to 85%. Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz is trashing the Streets Department. "They've neglected this problem. The result is we are wasting money on overtime. People are

6 working 10 hour days and the workers don't even want the overtime. The city has a reputation as being a dirty city. Residents are not getting their trash picked up in a timely way," Butkovitz said. The Streets Department blames the recession and two bad winters in a row where compactors are used for snow removal. The Streets Department says the fleet will be up and over the required number by mid-summer with the delivery of 30 newly purchased trucks and 20 leased ones. "We take our on-time collection rate very seriously. We hope to be back to our 97% on-time collection rate by mid-summer," Streets Commissioner David Perri said. The overtime bill to try to keep up with collections will be reduced now and a second collection shift will now be added "We'll have enough vehicles to maintain our 97% collection rate and we'll have enough money in the budget to replace vehicles before they break down and cause us additional problems in the future," Perri said. An estimated 80,000 homes have been affected by the depleted fleet. City Hall claims it will all be straightened out within the next three months.