AGENDA #5e

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT:       Status Report on Curbside Residential Refuse Collection

DATE:             June 24, 2002

As part of the budget process for Fiscal 2000-2001, the Town Council authorized implementing weekly residential refuse collection at the curb phased over a two-year period.  This is a status report requested by the Council regarding this service change.

BACKGROUND

The new collection service began as scheduled on February 5, 2001, for about one half of the Town; the remaining half received the new service in October, 2001, ahead of the scheduled starting time of February, 2002.  As can be seen from the following discussion, the program has resulted in cost savings greater than originally anticipated.  In addition, we have been able to initiate scheduled brush and yard materials collection as a direct result of the conversion to weekly curbside refuse service.  We have been focusing efforts in the past few months on attempting to achieve greater compliance with removal of carts from the curb by those residents who tend to leave them at the street.

DISCUSSION

The following features of the curbside system summarize program results since the initial phase of the revised service in February 2001.

Implementation

· Policy change was approved by the Council to start with adoption of budget for Fiscal 2000-2001.

· Start of Phase I implementation: February 5, 2001, as scheduled.

· Start of Phase II implementation: October 16, 2001, ahead of scheduled date of February 1, 2002.

Exemptions

· Exemption rate: 6.6% (620 customers out of total of 10,320; data include Southern Village).  Our original estimate was 7%.

Roll Carts

· Actual # acquired: 10,700 (19% more than original estimate of 9,020; higher number primarily results from infill and Southern Village).

· Actual unit cost of cart was $34; original report assumed $55 (a difference of $21, or 38%).

· Actual interest rate for financing cart acquisitions: 5.03%, compared to an assumed rate of 5.5% (8.5% lower than estimated).

· The combined total saving for carts considering unit cost and interest rate will be about $203,000.

Total Saving

· In the two fiscal years, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002, the combined saving is $238,500, or $56,755 more than the original estimate of $181,745 for the two years.

Original Estimate Revised Estimate

Personnel Costs                            220,500                         241,000

Operational Costs                             5,430                             5,500

Fuel/Maintenance Costs                    8,100                           10,500

Capital Costs*                               -52,285    -18,500

Total                                           $181,745                      $238,500

*Capital costs reflect negative amounts because they are based on expenditures for lease purchase acquisition of roll carts; the relative higher saving than anticipated results from actual favorable unit cost for roll carts and lower interest rate for debt financing as noted above              

· The combined cost saving in salaries and benefits for the three fiscal years 2001 through 2003 is estimated to be $552,500 (9 positions eliminated through attrition).  The original estimate was $513,100 in the analysis of May 3, 2000. The greater saving has resulted from elimination of the need for overtime costs related to brush collection. Once we were able to provide once weekly scheduled brush collection on Thursdays and Fridays because of service efficiencies associated with curbside service, we no longer have to work on Wednesdays and Saturdays to maintain brush collection service cycles.

Enforcement

· Town Code was revised effective with first phase of service change to require carts to be placed at the curb after 4:00 p.m. on the day before the collection day and removed from the curb before 6:00 a.m. on the day following the collection day.

· System adopted in April 2002, in which enforcement citations are issued to residents in non-compliance with set-out and removal times for carts noted above. After notices and warnings, repeat violators are fined $25 per incident of non-compliance.  To date we have issued 158 citations, primarily in neighborhoods with high percentages of rental housing.  Compliance seems to be improving, with a noticeable difference in the number of carts left out in many areas.  We are continuing to work with homeowners and property managers in affected areas.

Workload

Since initiation of curbside service, quantities of residential refuse placed for collection have increased about 5% annually.  About half of the increase is related to the annexation of Southern Village.  The remainder is related to infill growth.  Per capita generation of waste has remained fairly constant.

Employee Injuries

The following table represents our injury experience over the past five years.

Fiscal Year Lost Time Injuries # Days Lost

1997-98                               7                                    64

1998-99                               2                                    42

1999-00                               5                                    35

2000-01                               3                                   19

2001-02                               1                                      8

 (thru 3^rd quarter)

Collection of Brush and Yard Materials

A key benefit resulting since this change in service has been an increase of the service level for collection of brush and yard materials placed by residents at the street.  Brush and yard materials are now collected weekly, either on Thursday or Friday.  Before this weekly, date certain service, brush and yard materials were collected on an unscheduled basis, with a collection cycle often in excess of two weeks.  This improvement has been possible because of the increase in service efficiency made possible by the conversion to weekly curbside refuse collections.

SUMMARY

We believe that the service change to weekly curbside service for Town residents has been both efficient and cost effective.  Savings have exceeded original estimates, to a large extent because of relatively favorable unit costs for the carts and lower financing charges.  The nine positions have been reduced through attrition, without having to lay anyone off.  Measures are in place now to increase compliance with placement and removal of carts from the curb.  Exemptions have been granted as requested and are slightly less than originally anticipated.  An added, important benefit has been the establishment of scheduled, weekly, day-specific collection of brush and yard materials, a service improvement long requested by residents.