5.4. SR 03-22-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ITEM 5.4. TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL \. LORI JOHNSON, FINANCE DIRECTOR~tyt\J FROM: DATE: MARCH 18, 1993 SUBJECT: GARBAGE BILLING Recently, several Councilmembers requested that staff revisit the possibility of transferring garbage billing responsibility to the Elk River Municipal Utilities. This issue was initially researched in 1990 when the City started organized garbage collection. For numerous reasons it was determined that it was most logical for the City to do the billing at that time. In response to your request, Gary Schmitz and I have met with Bill Birrenkott, Pat and Vivian of Elk River Municipal Utilities to discuss this issue. Based on those discussions, we offer the following cost estimates and other related items which also should be considered. . Before discussing costs it needs to be noted that garbage is currently billed on a bimonthly basis; if Utilities does the billing, it will be on a monthly basis. Second, there are 3100 garbage customers. Over 30 percent, approximately 1000, of those customers do not receive a bill from Utilities for water, sewer or electric service. Finally, the Utilities uses an envelope bill instead of a postcard bill. Each of these factors contribute to the reason it is more costly for the Utilities to do billing for garbage service. City Cost: Postage and bills Staff Time (15hrs/wk) $4,650 10,183 TOTAL ANNUAL COST $14,833 Utilities Cost: Postage and bills Staff Time (20hrs/wk UB Clerk) Additional phone line for customer service (1/2) $5,547 14,040 360 TOTAL ANNUAL COST $19,947 ONE TIME STARTUP COSTS $2,500 - 3,500 . It will cost approximately $5,114 more each year if Utilities does garbage billing; this is based on estimates from the Utilities. This increase equates to $1.65 per year per customer. This does not take into account the Utilities' start up costs of $2,500 to $3,500 720 Dodge Avenue N.W., Elk River, Minnesota 55330 (612) 441-7420