San Franciscans have done such
a great job recycling they’ll now have to pay more for garbage
collection, if provider Recology’s request to raise rates by
more than 20 percent gets city approval.
The new cost would vary based
on the type and frequency of service received. The average
single-family household with a trio of 32-gallon black, blue,
and green bins would pay $34.51 a month, a $6.60 increase from
the current rate. Customers switching from a 32-gallon black
trash bin to a 20-gallon trash bin would pay $25.13 per month.
For apartment buildings, the
new rate structure would include discounts to encourage more
recycling and composting. The cost increases would be capped
at 25 percent in 2014 and 50 percent in 2015. Changes would
take effect in the late summer.
Recology justifies the
increase by citing a decline in revenue and the need to invest
in future waste-processing technologies.
At present, the company
charges residential customers based on the size of their black
trash bins. Many customers recycle and compost more and so
have switched to smaller black bins. The company says it needs
to start collecting a fixed charge for blue and green bins to
cover expenses, and that it also must pay for rising labor and
fuel costs.
The director of the San
Francisco Department of Public Works will review the request
and hold public hearings on the increase. He will then make a
recommendation to the body that determines refuse rates, made
up of the city controller, the city administrator, and the
general manager of the Public Utilities Commission.
The first of several hearings
has been scheduled for Friday, April 12, at 1 p.m. in City
Hall, Room 408.
The city has contracted a
ratepayer advocate to help those who want to better understand
the proposal and come up with questions and comments. The
ratepayer advocate can be contacted by email at
ratepayeradvocatesf@hfh-consultants.com, by phone at
415-554-6921, or in writing at SF Ratepayer Advocate, c/o HFH
Consultants, 201 North Civic Drive, Suite 230, Walnut Creek,
CA 94596.
In June 2012, Recology
maintained its monopoly on trash collection in the city by
successfully staving off a voter initiative that would have
required firms to bid for the business.
