Frequently Asked Questions Refuse (Garbage) Rates, July 1, 2015 Why are residential Refuse rate increases needed? The single-family residential refuse service includes collection, processing and disposal of garbage (black cart), recycling (blue cart), and yard trimmings (green cart); street sweeping; household hazardous waste; annual clean-up day program; maintenance, monitoring and reporting for the closed Palo Alto Landfill; and zero waste programs. In 2015, the residential refuse rate revenue did not fully cover all of the costs for these programs. The new rates are the first year of a three year rate plan to ensure that the residential refuse rate revenue will fully cover all current program costs as well as to fund a new program that will allow residents to place food scraps and food soiled paper into the green carts commingled with the yard trimmings. This exciting new residential curbside compost collection program will help the Palo Alto community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and move closer to its zero waste and climate protection goals by keeping these materials out of the landfill. What are the proposed rate increases? Cart Size Current Monthly Rate Proposed FY 2016 20 $22.29 $24.30 32 $40.14 $43.75 64 $76.34 $87.51 96 $110.26 $131.26 $2.01 $3.61 14.6%- $11.17 1 $21.00 When will these changes be reviewed by the City Council? On April 7 th, the City Council s Finance Committee approved these rate changes and will recommend that the City Council approve of these changes on June 15 th, 2015. A notice of these changes will be mailed to all residential customers by May 1 st, 2015. If approved in June, when would the rate changes take effect? If approved by City Council at the June hearing, these changes will take effect on July 1, 2015. We will begin mailing bills reflecting the new charges in July.
Will there be additional rate increases in the future? The proposed rate increase is part of a three-year plan to address the gap between residential revenues and expenses. By FY 2018, the revenue will cover all of the current and projected expenses. The rate increases for FY 2017 and FY 2018 may differ from the three-year plan due to changes in costs, inflation, and/or other unforeseen expenses. Each year of proposed increases will require approval of the Palo Alto City Council. Cart Size Current Monthly Rate * Projected FY 2016 Projected FY 2017 Projected FY 2018 Projected Increase over 3 years 20 $22.29 $24.30 $2.01 $26.48 $2.18 $28.60 8%- $2.12 $6.31 28% 32 $40.14 $43.75 $3.61 $47.69 $3.94 $51.51 8% $3.82 $11.37 28% 64 $76.34 $87.51 14.6%- $11.17 $95.38 $7.88 $103.01 8%- $7.63 $26.67 35% 96 $110.26 $131.26 1 $14.54 $143.07 $11.81 $154.52 8%- $11.45 $44.26 40% Is the rate increase needed to provide the new food scraps composting program? Less than one third, 1/3, of the rate increase will be used for the new food scraps composting program. The remaining increase will be used for costs of the current services.
How is your Refuse Fund dollar spent? Residential Refuse Fees pay for: Garbage Service Collection of garbage (black cart), processing at SMaRT to remove the recyclable materials and transportation and disposal of remaining nonrecyclable materials at the Kirby Canyon Landfill in San Jose. Recycling Service Collection of your recyclable materials (blue cart) and the processing and sale of the material. Composting Service Collection of yard trimmings and food scraps (green cart) and the processing and anaerobic digestion/composting of this material. Palo Alto Landfill Maintenance, Monitoring and Reporting Ongoing work at the Palo Alto Landfill to provide maintenance, monitoring and reporting. Household Hazardous Waste Weekly acceptance of hazardous waste and their proper disposal. Street Sweeping Weekly street sweeping during the leaf season and every other week during the remainder of the year. Has the Refuse Fund Staff worked to save ratepayers money? Yes. Staff is always looking at ways to reduce costs to ratepayers and has made multiple reductions in recent years. Expediting the landfill closure through a fast-fill program, closing the landfill early, and reducing staff and equipment, has saved $2.1million per year in operating expenses. Closing the Recycling Center in FY 2012 saved $225,000 per year. Modifying the street sweeping program - changing the frequency of sweeping during the non-leaf season and contracting out a large portion of the work, also saved the $522,000 per year to the Refuse Fund. The reduction in street sweeping costs also resulted in reducing the residential rate by $1.40 per month.
In the future, GreenWaste of Palo Alto, the City s garbage, recycling, and compost contractor, will be purchasing new automated collection trucks that will result in reduced contract costs and will create additional contract efficiencies. The use of these new trucks along with and with other contract modifications will save the City an additional $125,000 per year.
How do Palo Alto s Refuse Rates compare to other cities? The proposed FY 2016 rates compare favorably with other communities we typically benchmark. The following table compares the minican rate with the least expensive rate available to the residents of these cities. It should also be noted that Palo Alto offers different and often more extensive services than many of these other cities. For example, Mountain View only provides customers with every other week recycling and yard trimmings collection. Mountain View and Sunnyvale, both partners with Palo Alto in the operation of the SMaRT Station, do not provide for residential curbside food scraps collection. Also, Palo Alto offers weekly household hazardous waste drop-off services compared with the monthly (or less frequent service) offered by the County in most other jurisdictions. Palo Alto sweeps its streets more frequently than most other Cities. In addition, your refuse bill provides funding for street sweeping services, some jurisdictions fund part or all of this work through other sources. Table 8: Rate Comparison City Least Expensive Rate Palo Alto $24.36 Menlo Park $13.99 Mountain View $15.95 Santa Clara $31.91* Sunnyvale $34.88* Hayward $20.40 Redwood City $11.38 Roseville $23.40* Alameda $28.46 * Does not offer a minican. Will Commercial Refuse Rates go up? No increase is proposed for the Commercial Refuse rates for year FY 2016. How does collecting food scraps and food soiled paper fit into Zero Waste goals? Keeping food scraps from being buried in the landfill accomplishes two vital goals for the community: 1. Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that result from the decomposition of food scraps in the landfill. As food scraps decompose in a landfill, they generate methane gas a greenhouse gas at least 25x more damaging than carbon dioxide. The food scraps will be anaerobically digested (AD) at the Zero Waste Energy Development (ZWED) facility in north San Jose. At ZWED, the methane generated through the AD process will be captured and converted into renewable energy. 2. Allows for the final compost to be used as a soil amendment. The food scraps, after they are digested, are further composted and sold to market. and 3. Diverting food scraps from the garbage saves landfill airspace. In the end, this sustainable process will enable the food scraps to provide vital renewable energy and help replenish the soil with nutrients.
Can I opt out of the food scrap part of the new residential curbside compost collection program if I compost at home? No. Home composting is an important City waste diversion program that complements residential curbside food scrap collection. Some types of food scraps and yard trimmings should not be placed into a home compost feedstock including various vegetation seeds, meat, bones, dairy products and fats. Where can I obtain the latest information about the refuse rates and services? Please visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/refuserates for more information.