Lodi city council OKs waste rate hike
The Lodi City Council unanimously voted to approve a 2.97 rate increase in solid waste collection rates during its meeting Wednesday night at Carnegie Forum. Councilwoman JoAnne Mounce was absent from the meeting and Councilman Bob Johnson voted via phone.
According to Public Works Director Charlie Swimley, the city’s agreement with Central Valley Waste Management allows rates for solid waste collection to be adjusted annually on April 1. Waste Management has chosen to increase rates by 80 percent of the annual change in the consumer price index, plus an adjustment for increased landfill gate fees at countyowned disposal sites. The increase in rates based on 80 percent of the CPI change is 2.577 percent, with a 0.393 percent for the landfill gate fee increase.
For residential customers using a 35-gallon refuse cart, the rate will increase $0.79 more per month to $27.41. Those using a 64-gallon refuse cart will see an increase of $1.19 per month, to $41.24. Rates for 96-gallon carts will rise by $2.59, to a total of $89.88. Low-volume users will see their bill increase from $18.11 per month to $18.65.
Franchise and billing fees paid to the city will increase by about $40,000, Swimley said.
Several residents complained about the rate increase via social media and letters to the editor. However, only one person from the public spoke against the increase during the public hearing Wednesday night.
“We started out trying to keep things out of the landfills because we were putting plastics and etcetera into the landfills, so we then started the recycling project,” Lodi resident Mike Lusk said. “Out of this recycling project, we were able to eliminate a lot of the dumping that went into those landfills and the contamination that contaminated the ground water. Now we’re being told that a lot of these plastics that we’ve gotten used to recycling in the recycling cans can no longer go into those cans. As a result, more of that plastic and recyclables that we used to
keep out of the landfill are now going to the landfill, creating more tipping counts.”
With the increases over the past two years, Lusk estimated that Waste Management would average around $500,000 additional dollars.
“I understand you’re locked in with the 80 percent of the CPI on an annual basis as a profit margin for Waste Management,” Lusk said. “I think the citizens need some education on what they can do and what they can’t do with the garbage, and I would like to see the city try to hold back on the actual highest level of increase to Waste Management, if possible, and give the citizens a break here.”
Lusk suggested that, based on Waste Management’s statistics, the citizens have been working to recycle right and prevent contamination, and he said that needs to be considered when deciding on rate increases. He encouraged citizens to get out and vote in 2019 if they didn’t want to see anymore rate increases.
“You already have the tools
to fight the rate increase,” Lusk said. “It’s called Prop. 218, and every five years the city brings up the Prop. 2018 notice for your five year annual increases for water, sewer and garbage. It’s that time in 2019 coming up, that the citizens of Lodi need to get out and they need to vote and get a majority vote if they want to stop the increases that are being put into the water, sewer and garbage rates.”
Waste Management Vice President and General Manager Alex Oseguera informed the council and those attending the meeting that the increase will compensate for the increase in the cost the company incurs to provide services.
According to Oseguera, garbage trucks costs have increased over the years, along with emission costs. Continued regulation from the state has also increased the cost of providing services, Oseguera said.
Councilman Mark Chandler asked Oseguera what Waste Management was doing to reduce their costs.
“I want to know where it is that you are tightening your belt, because people are going to have to tighten their belts to pay these fees,” Chandler said.
According to Oseguera, Waste Management works to increase the efficiency of their vehicles constantly and looks toward having better fuel insurance for their vehicles. They’ve also implemented better routing systems for their vehicles to reduce the number of hours the vehicles are out and are examining their health and welfare benefits to determine the impact of rising cost of health care, Oseguera said. Waste Management also monitors where it buys resources — and how much it buys — in terms of their overall variable costs which include oils and lubricants.
According to Oseguera, one challenge that Waste Management is facing is a program called China’s Sword, where China will only accept recyclable materials with 0.03 percent contamination. If the recyclables have high contamination when they are sent to China, they are returned to the U.S. Another issue that they are facing is that plastics stamped 5 cost them $100 per ton to be recycled because they are not marketable at the moment, Oseguera said.
According to Oseguera, Lodi trash rates compare pretty well with surrounding cities, and Lodi is right in the middle. In regards to concerns of educating the community, Oseguera said Waste Management was working to provide additional outreach to inform the community on what’s recyclable. Waste management also has a training and enrichment center where children can learn how to recycle and how the equipment processes recyclables. Waste Management will also be donating dumpsters for the alley improve project on Love Lodi Day, set for April 14. Councilman Doug Kuehne suggested that Waste Management use the picnic portion of the event to pass out flyers and educate the community.