To make up for a projected deficit in waste collection funds, San Mateo property owners will likely see a $30 monthly increase for such services accumulating over the next several years, with a $5 per month increase starting this year.
Waste collection services comprise not just of Recology pickup but the city’s street sweeping and illegal dumping programs as well. Currently, property owners in the city pay anywhere from $23 to $89 per month for residential collection, depending on bin size. By 2028, the plan is to have the monthly residential fee for a 20-gallon bin jump from the current $23 rate to about $54.
Around 2016, the state began imposing recycling and compost mandates for jurisdictions, which staff pointed to as the underlying motivation for changing the rate structure and calculation. But some residents still took issue with the seemingly disproportionate increase for smaller-sized bins.
“Why not increase rates with one uniform percentage increase across the board? Would that not be a more fair and equitable method to increase rates? As proposed, the new rates place a disproportionate burden on households that are already doing their part to reduce garbage by selecting the 20- or 32-gallon carts,” Dianne Whitaker said, noting the 21% increase for smaller bins, compared to a 6% increase for larger sizes.
But because the city’s model prior to around 2016 was more cost effective for those with smaller carts, the transition away from that structure is posing a financial challenge for waste collection funding.
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“Regrettably, because of state laws, we are longer able to fund our waste, recycling and composting programs in the way we had been so we had to make up for that,” Waste Management Supervisor Jack Johnson said. “Unfortunately, the 20- and 32-gallon cart sizes are the ones that must transition over the next several years the most because they are the ones that received the largest subsidies.”
The increase for 20-gallon rates is now closer to other neighboring cities, such as Redwood City and Burlingame, which have $30.87 and $29.53 monthly rates, respectively.
To move ahead with the public hearing and adopt the rate increases, less than half of property owners would have to object. About 22 protest notices were received out of over 31,000 notices mailed. The increases were also a result of suspended hikes during the pandemic, and according to staff, maintaining the 2023 rates the same would lead to a $3.8 million deficit.
“I’ve been on council now for five years, many of which were during the pandemic, and we used this enterprise fund very judiciously to not increase rates for two straight years to help community members and ratepayers,” Councilmember Amourence Lee said. “And now we are looking at how we can ensure that this enterprise fund can remain solvent … this decision, we don’t take lightly.”
The City Council unanimously approved the $5 rate increase.
Garbage collectors' salary = $140K/year plus about $30K overtime. That's $170,000 year on taxpayers' dime. Council should have voted this down and advised Recology to be fiscally and operationally frugal, prudent and responsible. This can't continue. Calif. is bankrupt.
A garbage man who sits in a truck, and hits button buttons to pick up trash is no more difficult than working in McDonald’s. It’s actually probably easier. And when they make a mistake and knock over a bin, they don’t pick it up. Today, my garbage bin, which was clearly in my driveway ended up about 15 feet to the right in front of my neighbors driveway. They’re all idiots, and this is what you get with unions and Democrats.
"They're all idiots, and this is what you get with unions and Democrats"...calm down. Take a deep breath. Now, go online and purchase Trump's bible for the remarkably low price of only $59.99.
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Garbage collectors' salary = $140K/year plus about $30K overtime. That's $170,000 year on taxpayers' dime. Council should have voted this down and advised Recology to be fiscally and operationally frugal, prudent and responsible. This can't continue. Calif. is bankrupt.
A garbage man who sits in a truck, and hits button buttons to pick up trash is no more difficult than working in McDonald’s. It’s actually probably easier. And when they make a mistake and knock over a bin, they don’t pick it up. Today, my garbage bin, which was clearly in my driveway ended up about 15 feet to the right in front of my neighbors driveway. They’re all idiots, and this is what you get with unions and Democrats.
"They're all idiots, and this is what you get with unions and Democrats"...calm down. Take a deep breath. Now, go online and purchase Trump's bible for the remarkably low price of only $59.99.
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