2005-91 AUTHORIZING MAXIMUM RATES FOR REFUSE HAULERS

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, '. haulers to earn a reasonable profit to which they are entitled. Petitioners have also claimed that the "back door" service offered as part of ihe basic fee charged to residential customers takes additional time and fuel. While common sense would indicate that it takes longer to wallc to the rear of a building to obtain the garbage container than it does to pick it up at the curb, there was no evidence presented by petitioners as to the number of customers actually taking advantage of this option. In fact, it was estimated by Dave Schaab of Waste Management that 10% of residential customers may receive this service. Mr. Schaab estimated that on any given pickup day, 75%to 80%of customen have their garbage curb side. He further estimated that on any given pick up day, 10%of customers either are not at home or the residences are vacant. It was also his opinion that"back door" service is generally being eliminated as a service option. In fact,the city ordinance requires limb, branch and wood bundles, as well as grass clippings, be placed curb side for pickup. It would therefore seem that petitioners reliance on this aspect of the service for an increase is not well founded. It is, at least, not supported by the evidence. However,the City Council may wish to consider eliminating this service option. Petitioners are seeking the elimination of the use of the metal or plastic 32 gal. container for yard waste and the implementation of the use of paper bags and the institution of a$1.50 per bag charge with a 15 bag limit per pickup. This particular item gamered the most attention at the hearing and the item most discussed by the people who spoke at the hearing.A great deal of testimony was presented by petitioners which will not be repeated here but, generally, claimed that the yard waste removal added one to two days additional labor and fuel cost, and�took additional time since it had to be collected on a separate"run". Yet,no evidence was presented that would indicate that the trucks would not be r�nning and the employees not working if there was no separate yazd waste pick up. There was no evidence that the yard waste pickup required the purchase of additional equipment,the hiring of additional employees or that"overtime labor costs"were incurred. When questioned as to the elimination of the 32 gal. containers,petitioners indicated that that was requested only because the use of the bags would facilitate keeping track of the required pickups and the fees generated thereby.In seeking the $1.50/bag pickup fee, petitioners did not take into account the cost to the customer of purchasing the bags. It is recommended that the elimination of the 32 gal. containers and the unplementation of the; $1.50/bag fee for yard waste be denied � In their presentation, Petitioners pointed to the various services available to the residents of the city and the cost associated with each. It was indicated that there are"senior discounts" available. Yet, nowhere in the ordinance, or in the fee schedules made available is such a discount set forth. If there is such a discount available, it should be made known to the citizens and set forth in the ordinance. Such information should include the definition of"senior" and the amount or%of the discount. Fuel surcharges are not new or rare in fuel-driven indus�ies. UPS, FedEx and DHL have a fuel surcharge added to each delivery. The surcharge rate is based upon the fuel prices published monthly by the U.S. Department of Energy. Using this method links fuel surcharges to current fuel prices and adjusts quickly to changes up or down in actual fuel costs. Petitioners'