Just in from the city, a request to raise rates for water and trash/recycling service. Much fine print in the proposal, but basically, Seattle Public Utilities says, the average household solid-waste bill would go up more than $6, the average household water bill would go up more than $5. City Council approval is required. Here’s the city news release with full details:

Increases Sought in Solid Waste and Water Rates
For Some, Environmentally Friendly Waste Reduction Choices May Cut Rate Impact

SEATTLE — To keep pace with inflation — including rising fuel and labor costs — and to
retire debt incurred in the replacement of aging infrastructure, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)
today asked the City Council to approve an increase in water and solid waste rates.

Utilities officials say many customers may be able to reduce the impact of the new rates by
downsizing to smaller garbage and food/yard waste carts and by conserving water. New
strategies are also being developed to provide rate assistance to qualifying low-income
customers.

The proposed solid waste rate increases are largely attributable to new garbage contracts
approved by the Seattle City Council earlier this year. The new contracts reflect increased costs
of fuel and labor since 2000 when contracts were last signed, and new service enhancements.

Under the plan, typical residential customers (with weekly 32-gallon garbage pickup and every-
other-week yard waste pickup) would see their monthly solid waste bill go from $23 to $29.65.
Services would be expanded to include weekly yard waste pickup — which would include, for
the first time, meat and dairy scraps. (See Figure 1, solid waste rates table.)

The typical household water bill would go from $24.61 in 2008, to $29.05 in 2009. (See Figure
2, water rates table.)

Because of the move from bi-weekly to weekly collection of food/yard waste, some customers
will not need a 96-gallon cart, and may be able to offset the monthly rate increase. For the first
time, households will be able to choose the sizes of their garbage cans and their food/yard waste
carts. For example, households choosing to keep their 32-gallon garbage can but downsizing to a
32-gallon yard/food waste cart would see a monthly increase from $23 to $28.11 a month. (See
Figure 3, chart of various collection options.)

With the ability to put food scraps in organic yard waste cans, some households may also be able
to downsize to a 20-gallon garbage can, seeing a slight decrease in their bills from $23 to $22.90
a month.

“Almost all customers will see higher rates, but by making smart choices — reducing, reusing
and composting — customers may be able to lessen the cost impact of the rate increase and help
the environment,” SPU Director Chuck Clarke said.

Strong financial management, competitive procurement, and recycling success have held solid
waste rates well below inflation for decades — and continue to do so. (Monthly residential rates
have increased by only $2.65 since 1994.) Since 2000, the city’s contract payments only
increased at about 1.3 percent annually, while waste contractors’ expenses rose by about 4.5
percent a year.

A 2007 survey found that drinking water quality, water supply, garbage pickup, and recycling
services are very important to SPU’s residential customers — who said they are very satisfied
with the services provided in all those areas.

Compostable food scraps and recyclable paper make up more than one-half, or 68,000 tons, of
Seattle’s single-family residential garbage. The city’s recycling goal is to divert 70 percent of all
its waste from the landfill by 2025. Currently, Seattle recycles and composts 48.4 percent of its
waste. Seattle spends more than $20 million a year to transport more than 400,000 tons of
garbage to a landfill in Arlington, Ore. By reaching its recycling goals, the city expects to save
millions on disposal and processing fees.

New solid waste costs will include new garbage, yard waste and recycling collection contracts,
the first since 2000, for the period April 2009 through March 2019. Other service enhancements
include:
• All recyclables (except food/yard waste) will now go into a single recycling bin,
including glass, paper and plastic.

• Recycling more kinds of plastic. Beginning in March 2009, residential curbside
customers will be able to recycle more plastic food containers such as plastic cups and
deli containers.
• Less noise and pollution from collection trucks. One hundred percent of garbage trucks
will run on compressed natural gas, dramatically reducing key pollutants in
neighborhoods.
• Expansion of the city’s Dumpster Free Alley Program, which is designed to cut crime,
reduce waste and generally clean up the alleys and business areas.
• Curbside motor oil recycling.
• A new curbside electronics recycling program will also be offered in 2009. The program
will be paid for by user fees, and is not part of the proposed rate increase.

If approved, the solid waste rate increase will take effect March 30, 2009, along with the new
collection contracts.

Under the proposals submitted to the City Council today, Seattle’s drinking water customers
would also see rate increases, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Among the drivers of the water rate
increases are:
• Inflation, which has been much higher than projected when rates were last set, and which
is now forecast to continue at a high rate.1
• Increased costs of debt service. Seattle uses debt to finance a portion of its capital
projects and is therefore still paying for facilities such as its new Tolt River and Cedar
River water treatment plants, and the costs of burying all of the city’s reservoirs.
Benefits of the projects include the creation of more than 70 acres of open space,
increased security, and improved water quality. Seattle’s tap water, which costs about
one-third of one cent per gallon is some of the finest tasting, purest-source water in the
world. It is considered the “gold standard” in water quality.
• Continuing capital needs, which require a cash contribution in addition to the debt
mentioned above. These capital projects include projects such as the reservoir burying
program, a permanent pumping plant at Chester Morse reservoir, a fish hatchery to meet
federal regulatory requirements on the Cedar River, and replacing aging infrastructure.
• Continued strengthening of SPU’s financial policies, resulting in the additional expensing
of approximately $10 million of capital projects over 2006 and 2007. These policies
provide stability and lower rates in the long term. As an example, it is estimated that, if
SPU had followed its current capital funding guidelines (instituted beginning in 2002)
during the 1990s, rates would be 9 percent lower than they are today.
• Proposed expansion of the low-income rate assistance program.