Agenda - Council - 08/22/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ESTABLISH CURBSIDE RECYCLING RATE By: Jessie L. Hart, Finance Officer CASE Background: The City of Ramsey has been providing mandatory curbside recycling to residential properties, at no cost to them, for the past several ),ears. The cost of operating the curbside program has been funded through tipping fees and Anoka Count3, grants. With the closure of the landfill, there is the need for a new fi~nding source. The monies from which thc abatement activities arc currently funded, such as the curbside recycling progra~ environmental specialist, and clean-up da),, w/lJ be completely depleted bv mid- 1995 ff the City ,is to continue funding the programs as it has in the past. in order to allow {or the continued funding of at least a portion of the environmental specialist position, it is necessaq,., to funct the other programs through another means, such as directly billing residential properties for the services. With the implementation of billing services through Anoka Electric Cooperative (AEC), we now have the ability tO accomplish a direct billing to even those residents who do not currently reside in the urban service area. The City curren.tly incurs a total of approximately $85,000 to provide the curbside recycling program and cleOn-up day(s). This number includes the charges by the hauler for pick-ups and staff rime for a&~nisn-afion and coordination of the programs and will be offset by approximately $35,000 in courtry grants (anticipated for 1995). This number does not include the cost of recycling bins, O, hich at this point in rime are approximately 5;8.00 per bin, and it is not anticipated that there will be~a need to purchase additional bins until late 1995 or earl), 1996. Utilizing staffs ~stimate of households for 1995 at 4,547, there would be an additional charge of $5,456 in annualibilling charges if direct billing is considered acceptable. This would equate to an annual cost per h:ousehold of $12.20, which when billed quarterly would be $3.05 per quarter. For comparison Purposes, the following is list of cities that currently provide curbside recycling and the charge, i/a.ny, that is passed onto the residents on a quarterly basis. (List obtained fi.om 1994 Utility Rate Survey performed by the City of Luverne for Communities in Minnesota with a populahon over 3,500.) Elk RJve~ Anoka Champlin Blame Andover Ham l_ake $3.44/quaner $6.00/quarter Built into organized collection rate Bu/lt into organized collection rate No separate charge identified No separate charge identified It is apparent, when compared with our neighboring communities, a quarterly rate of $3.05 is a fair and reasonable r/m, based on actual costs to be incurred_ The rate at $3.05 per quarter would be a fiat rate billed to all residential properties in the City. There would be no exemptions from the program; participation is voluntary but highly recommended. The grants received from Anoka County are based on recycling goals; if these goals are not met~ there is a potential for funding cuts.