Waste Disposal Rates for Duarte Residential and Commercial Customers to Increase
Waste disposal rates for residential and commercial customers will be going up in Duarte for the first time in two years effective January 1, 2010. Under the City’s contract with Burrtec Waste Disposal, annual rate adjustments for refuse collection and recycling are permitted based on a specific formula that takes into account various cost factors. The last time the City granted a request by Burrtec Waste Disposal to increase rates for residential and commercial customers was January 2008.
Residential customers can expect an 8.8% rate increase, paying between $1.11 and $1.47 more per month. The most common service for residential is a 90 gallon trash container, 60 gallon recycling container and 60 gallon green waste container. The new rate for that service will be $18.20, while seniors and/or handicapped customers with 40/60/60 service will pay $13.79.
Rates for commercial customers will increase by 7%, about $8.13 more per month. The most commonly used commercial service is a 3 yard bin picked up once a week. The new rate will be $129.26.
Under the City’s contract with Burrtec, annual rate adjustments are permitted based on a specific formula that takes into account various cost factors including the percentage change from July to July in the Consumer Price Index, tipping fees charged for waste disposal and the cost of fuel. A 4% cap is set forth on each annual adjustment, but Burrtec may petition the City Council for an adjustment in excess of 4% when justified by extraordinary circumstances.
Burrtec submitted its request to the City for adjustments to its refuse collection and recycling rates on Oct. 8. Included in their letter was information that Los Angeles County Sanitation District (LACSD) had once again increased the tipping fees at the Puente Hills Landfill to $38.26 per ton, a 13% increase over the previous year’s fee. In anticipation of the scheduled closure of Puente Hills Landfill in 2013 and the future rail costs, LACSD has projected that tipping fees could exceed $60 per ton and will be phased in over the remaining years. While tipping fees have increased, stabilization in the price of fuel over the last 12 months and the July 2009 CPI of -2.6% helped to partially offset the increase.
Burrtec began providing franchised refuse collection and recycling services in the City of Duarte on Nov. 1, 1996. In Feb. 2008, City Council granted a contract extension for Burrtec to continue service until Jan. 2017. As part of that negotiation Burrtec agreed to forego an annual rate increase for 2009, complete the conversion of existing diesel fleet to new alternative fuel trucks by Dec. 2011, implement a new household sharps collection program, a new used oil curbside collection program, a new low volume commercial recycling program, a new e-waste collection feature in the Community Clean-up program and a new construction and demolition processing option. All have been implemented and Burrtec is well underway to meeting the 2011 goal having already converted two of the fleet to alternative trucks.
A couple of important things for residential customers to remember, said Assistant City Manager, Kristen Petersen, is that Burrtec will provide free backyard service for senior and handicapped customers who need help getting the refuse containers from the backyard to the curb for pick-up. Burrtec also offers Duarte customers two free pick-ups a year for bulky items – such as furniture or appliances that will not fit in a 90 or 60 gallon refuse container. Residents can call Burrtec to requests either of these services.
Even with the rate increases, Duarte continues to have some of the lowest rates in Los Angeles County for residential customers, said Petersen.
For more information, customers can call Burrtec at (1-800) 325-9417 or the City of Duarte at (626) 357-7931.
