Trash Rates Go Up

The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously during a special half-hour meeting Feb. 5 to increase the refuse rates in a two-step, city-wide adjustment.

The council made its decision after hearing from Public Works Director Craig Beck and Environmental Services Bureau Manager Diko Melkonian, who gave a presentation with facts and figures. Several members of the public spoke at the podium opposing the increase.

Beck said Long Beach’s trash and recycling program provides service to more than 120,000 residential and commercial customers, including special scheduled pickups of bulky items and the abatement of illegally dumped items.

He added in 2018, more than 185,000 tons of waste was collected and over 23,000 large bulky items were picked up.

Melkonian said Long Beach pays less for refuse services than surrounding cities and that the city has operated at a deficit for nine of the last 10 years.

He said the last consumer price index increase took place in 2015 and the last cost of service-related increase was in 2002.

Long Beach hired HF&H Consultants to do a cost of service study, among other tasks. The company has expertise in conducting refuse studies for municipalities and has worked for the city before.

The study found Long Beach’s rates have not generated sufficient revenue to cover the cost of service, solid waste collection costs have increased and state mandated diversion programs require additional funding, Melkonian noted.

He said Long Beach’s refuse and recycling call center saw an increase of 60 percent in the number of calls for service since 2015.

“We went from a little over 63,000 calls per year in 2015 to over 100,000 calls last year,” he told the council.

And there was an increase in requests by rate payers for bulky item removals such as couches and mattresses, he added.

“The number of requests for rate payers has doubled since 2014 from 11,762 to over 23,000.”

As a result, the city increased special pickups from two to four times per year, he said.

Step one of the trash bill increase will start March 1. A typical single-family home will go up $2.41 per month and a typical apartment unit rate will increase $1.98.

Then the second step goes into effect Oct. 1, 2019, where a typical single-family home will pay another $2.47 per month and an average apartment unit, $2.02.

“This two-step proposal was created to help smooth over the increase rather than giving one huge increase at one time,” Melkonian said.

A single-family home with a 100-gallon barrel currently pays $24.11 a month. An apartment unit with a 65-gallon container pays $20.47 a month. But in March the home will pay $26.52 and the apartment, $22.45. Then in October the single-family home will pay $28.99 and the apartment, $24.47.

He compared Long Beach’s rates to other cities.

Trash fees for a house in Torrance is currently $32.47 a month, Los Angeles $36.32 and Pasadena, $40.99, according to a rate comparison chart.

“Burbank for example, has the same state mandate of waste diversion target as Long Beach. Our diversion rate in Long Beach is slightly better than Burbank, yet our current rates are half of what they charge ($51.88),” he said.

Santa Monica has a recently-implemented organics collection, he added. “And their rates are now over $52 per month.”

Then he discussed Northern California.

“Oakland and San Jose, both of which have recently-implemented organics, have rates of over $100 per month, Oakland being over $125 per month now,” Melkonian said.

He added, “Not trying to scare anybody or saying we’re going to $100, but I just wanted to put a comparison out there to show how regionally different issues and infrastructure issues affect cost of collection and service provisions.”

Second District Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce asked if less trash goes out, could residents get a lower rate. Beck and Melkonian indicated yes.

If residents ask for the smaller container, then the rate would drop. There’s the 100-gallon cost and the 65-gallon cost.

“I didn’t know I could request a smaller container,” Pearce said.

She added, “I just want to make sure that rate payers are aware of that option as we change the rate, that we’re also informing them, so it’s an incentive to waste less.”

kirt@beachcomber.news