6.4. SR 11-24-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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GARBAGE COLLECTION PROGRAM Provides for the coordination, with the Elk River Municipal Utilities for the billing, of the garbage collection program. This budget includes expenditures for service contracts for the collection of the city garbage and recycling material, payments for disposal of waste at the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant, and for the overall administration of the program. 1998 BUDGET COMPARED WITH 1997 BUDGET The 1998 Garbage Collection Program budget is proposed in the amount of $710,750. This is an approximately 7% or $46,000 increase over the adopted 1997 budget. The major expenses in the Garbage Collection Program are for the hauler contracts and for waste disposal at the RDF plant. These two expenditures in 1998 equal approximately 96 percent of the total budget. A new three year contract, which began in 1997, calls for the city to pay the haulers only for collection of garbage and for the city to directly pay the RDF plant the waste disposal fee. In this manner, the city hopes to be able to respond more immediately to changes in the solid waste fee which would affect customer charges. In 1998, the County is considering an increase in tipping fees. In anticipation of this increase, the 1998 budget includes an additional $35,000 in solid waste expenses. To offset this additional expense, the city plans to use $29,750 worth of reserves. Once action by the County on the tipping fee is finalized, the city will adjust its customer charges accordingly. The increase in the Garbage Collection budget is due to this anticipated change in the tipping fee by the County and to a growth in the number of households that are covered by the program. The city Garbage Collection Program only deals with residential properties of 4 units or less. The revenues for the Garbage Collection Program are shown on the adjacent page. All of the revenues come from customer charges. This includes the penalty fees and the special assessment method for collection of non-paid bills. The projected garbage collection revenues, including the use of reserves, match the projected garbage collection expenditures. The Elk River Municipal Utilities department collects the garbage fees and remits the money to the city on a monthly basis. The city then makes monthly payments to the three garbage collection firms which are under contract with the city and to the RDF plant for waste disposal charges. Currently this city program bills approximately 4,000 customers for service and this number is expected to increase to approximately 4,150 by the end of 1998. The breakdown of the program shows the collection of approximately 3,000 ninety gallon containers, 750 thirty-two gallon containers, both of which are picked up weekly, and 250 thirty-two gallon containers which are picked up bi-weekly. Recycling material is collected bi-weekly and is available for all 3,900 customers.