Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fort Smith residents to see trash service rate increase
FORT SMITH — Residents can expect to see a rate increase for sanitation over the next two years starting in October.
City directors approved charges for the landfill and residential, commercial and industrial services, as well as related services the city provides, during its meeting Tuesday.
The board also approved an agreement with Birch Recycling for services related recyclable material collected by the Sanitation Department.
Kyle Foreman, Sanitation Department director, wrote in a memo to City Administrator Carl Geffken after increasing the landfill and rolloff rates during the past three years, the time has come for the city to implement both residential and commercial rate increases.
“The last increase the residential division had was in 2007,” Foreman wrote. “The last residential rate change was in July 2013; a decrease of almost 8%. The last increase the commercial division had was also in 2007.”
The monthly residential charges for each single-family will rise to $14.59 on Oct. 1 and $15.89 on Jan. 1, 2022, both in addition to sales tax. Foreman said the charges used to be $13.28, with the total increase of $2.61 to ensure the residential division covers its costs.
Foreman said the Sanitation Department also recommends switching to bi-weekly recycle and yardwaste collection, as opposed to weekly, beginning Oct. 5.
“This operational change will save the department roughly $150,000 per year in operating costs,” Foreman wrote. “This switch also allows the department to add an 8th trash route, and add a brush collection service for larger trees that are not reasonably able to be bundled weighing less than 50 lbs. This service would be scheduled based with a fee per cubic yard associated with it.”
The brush collection service comes with a $60 flat fee for 0-10 cubic yards, $120 for 11-20 cubic yards and $180 for more than 20 cubic yards, although this would be limited to the capacity of a single truck. All these fees also come with sales tax.
Foreman said the rate increases and operational changes will make sure the Sanitation Department will be able to cover future landfill obligations, purchase equipment rather than leasing it and continue to both provide “great customer service” and grow the department’s service as the city grows.
“Without the operational change to bi-weekly recycling and yardwaste collection, the rate needed to cover residential cost would be $17.26 per month,” Foreman said. “Under this same rate and operational model, if the city were to become the sole service provider of residential and commercial collection, the residential rate would only need to increase 10%. The increase in commercial revenue could be used to offset some residential loss.”
The rate increases also
support the department’s transition of all its hauling division operations from diesel to compressed natural gas, which is planned to begin in 2022, according to Foreman. He added the city needs to discuss establishing a mechanism where rates increase every few years at, for example, a percentage of the Consumer Price Index.
“That would eliminate all these ‘flat’ years and then a sudden 20% increase,” Foreman said.
Other changes include residential customers will be provided one city-owned 95-gallon refuse cart without additional charge, but additional carts, which may
be provided by request, will result in $10 per month per cart charge. The charge used to be $5 per month, according to Foreman.
At-Large Position 6 Kevin Settle motioned to amend this section so a second cart would result in an additional monthly charge of $10 and three or more additional carts will come with a charge of $15 per month per cart. Settle said his intent was to encourage more recycling, which would decrease how much goes to the landfill.
Six of the directors voted in favor of Settle’s motion, with Ward 4 Director George Catsavis voting against it. The motion passed.
In contrast, the board approved the recycling agreement with Birch Recycling. Birch is the city’s provider for recycling services.
Foreman said in another memo an item for a sanitation recycling contract was tabled during the board’s June 16 meeting. As a result, the request for proposals for recycling processing had to be republished for bids, with the bid being for the processing of the city’s commingled curbside recycling, Operation Green Office and commercial cardboard streams. The contract is for three years with the potential for two extensions of one year.
Foreman said before the meeting commingled curbside material is what residents put in their recycle cart, Operation Green Office material is recyclables collected at businesses, and commercial cardboard is cardboard generated by commercial businesses.
The city received three bids, according to Foreman. Birch Recycling, submitted a bid with a fixed cost of $160 per ton, which is double of what the city pays, $80 per ton. Foreman said part of the residential rate increase was approved by the board earlier would cover this increase in recycling.
However, Foreman said the current blended value of the city’s commingled curbside and Operation Green Office material comes out to $75.90, although he noted that blended value will change monthly as the market increases and decreases. The bid for commercial cardboard is $20 below current market value, which currently equates to $45 per ton in total, Foreman wrote. The city’s current arrangement for this is $40 below market value.
Foreman said that material is sorted and then sold by Birch based on market value.