Get ready for sticker shock when it comes to getting rid of your garbage, recycling, and yard waste.

All residential customers — except those that qualify for low-income senior rates — could start getting $47.41 a month garbage bills later this year.

And those garbage bills will reach $63.07 a month by 2027.

A typical commercial customer with a roll off box pull will see their current $656.84 rate jump to $762.69 later this year. Then, by 2027, they will be paying $1,153.65 a month.

That’s the bottom financial line for  ratepayers in a study designed to get the solid waste division out of a financial hole, cover inflation costs of the past five years, and to implement expensive new state mandates for food waste and other recycling initiatives.

Depending upon the service you now have based on cart size your rate increase could be as much as 105 percent higher between now and 2027.

That’s because in order to increase operating efficiency and to avoid even higher rate increases, the proposal is to go to a universal cart size of 95 gallons.

In doing so, it will:

*Eliminate issues with truck “arms” being able to effectively grab the 64 and 32 gallon carts.

*Eliminate a high replacement rate for the smallest containers that can run close to $150 apiece that are now damaged to the point they have to be replaced hundreds of times each year.

*Avoid having to buy trucks with arms designed for medium and smaller carts that would create a much larger blackhole in department expenses.

*Avoid cardboard from getting jammed in the 64-gallon blue recycling carts that prevents the contents from dumping when they are tipped.

*Likely significantly reduce cross-contamination when people with smaller garbage carts place what they can’t fit into the brown carts into the blue for recycling and in the green for yard waste effectively contaminating them and making it impossible to recycle or compost waste that then has to be landfilled.

Currently the small cart rate is $30.67 a month, the medium cart is $32.61 a month, and the large cart (95 gallons) is $34.33 a month.

Some will see garbage rates

going up by 105% by 2027

That means once fully implemented in a five-year tiered rate increase between now and 2027 rates for

*Current small cart ratepayers will go up 105%

*Current medium cart ratepayers will go up 93%

*Current large cart ratepayers will go up 83%.

At the same time someone who has small or medium carts — whether it is for recycling or garbage — will receive bigger 95 gallon carts for each. That effectively increases the amount  of non-recyclable waste and recyclables they can dispose of each week.

It also will make breaking down cardboard somewhat easier given the wider width of the 95-gallon carts. Cardboard waste from residential customers has skyrocketed since the surge in home delivery through Amazon and other online retailers.

The new rates also reflect weekly pickup of all three carts. Currently only the brown garbage cart is collected weekly with the other two carts — blue for recyclables and green for yard waste — tipped on alternating weeks.

The move was predicated for two reasons.

*There is a need to severely reduce contamination of recyclables  while at the same time restoring items that have been landfilled in the last few years given the city has found a vendor to take items such as newspapers and  glass.

*The green carts now include food waste as well as yard waste to allow for composting. Food waste, due to smells and other potential issues, need to be collected on a weekly basis.

The move will require expanding the solid waste truck fleet and the hiring of more workers to handle routes.

The implementation plan splits the rate hike into four steps.

That means the biggest jump will occur this year when all residential customers will go to 95 gallon carts. That will take the current $34.33 charge for a 95 gallon cart up $13.08 to $47.41 a month.

Then in the next four years:
*On Jan. 1, 2024, the rate will go up $3.51 to $50.92.

*On Jan. 1, 2025, the rate will go up $3.76 to $54.68.

*On Jan. 1, 2026, the rate will go up $4.04 to $58.72.

*On Jan. 1, 2036, the rate will go up $4.35 to $63.07.

The rate for the basic roll off box pull for commercial accounts is now $656.44 a month.

It will go to $762.69 a month on Jan. 1, 2024, $845.82 a month on Jan. 1, 2025, $938.01 a month on Jan. 1, 2026, $1,040,26. a month on Jan. 1, 2026, and $1,153.65 a month of Jan. 1, 2027.

The current average residential rate for solid waste residential collection in the region is $58.27 a month. Manteca’s current 95-gallon rate is $34.33.

If the five-year rate plan is adopted the following rate increase comparison on a monthly basis for 2023 would be:

*$47.41 for Manteca’s proposed rate.

*$36.00 for Ripon.

*$43.02 for Lathrop.

*$45.85 for Modesto.

*$50.70 for Stockton.

*$57.79 for Sacramento.

*$74.19 for Tracy.

*$100.37 for Lodi.

The current 2-yard charge in Manteca for a 2-yard commercial container is $424.47.

If the proposed rate increase goes into effect the 2023 comparison on a monthly basis would be:

*$482.71 for Manteca’s proposed rate.

*$244,87 for Lathrop.

*$324.54 for Modesto.

*$475.90 for Stockton.

*$648.62 for Tracy.

*$879.05 for Lodi.

Last rate study was

conducted in 2016

The City of Manteca last conducted a solid waste rate study in 2016. That study provided a schedule of rate increases each year through 2021.

The 2016 study accurately predicted operational cost increases, growth, and revenue requirements into 2020. Inflation of several key factors such as fuel, maintenance, and disposal fees were not accounted for since there was no way to forecast the economic inflation that occurred.

In addition, inflation went from being below 2 percent to more than 8 percent for two consecutive years since then.

In addition to the increased cost of existing operations, the new solid waste rates incorporate the cost of new unfunded state mandates.

*In 1989, the state enacted the California Integrated Solid Waste Management Act, otherwise known as Assembly Bill 939. This legislation established regulations for landfill diversion primarily through development of recycling programs.

 *In 2006 the state passed Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. This legislation provided a catalyst for passage of the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) legislation of 2016. Even though SB 1383 was signed into law in 2016, the associated solid waste regulations were not finalized by the Cal Recycle, working through the California Air Resources Board (CARB) until November of 2020.

 SB 1383 fundamentally changes how the organic portion of solid waste is collected, processed, and disposed. The State of California has mandated that municipalities, including the City of Manteca, develop and implement programs that aid in diversion of organic waste from landfills such as organic waste composting, treated wood waste, processing waste to create energy, and other innovative solutions. SB 1383 will have a more profound effect on the City’s solid waste services than the transformative AB 939 legislation.

 Unlike past legislation, SB 1383 is an unfunded state mandate that has strict requirements with scheduled deadlines and mandatory punitive fines if the City does not meet the compliance schedule.

 Proposed solid waste rate and fee adjustments are intended to provide the Solid Waste Fund with the financial resources required to meet SB 1383 state mandated requirements through the five-year scope of this solid waste rate study.

Standardization of

residential carts

In an effort to become more efficient and increase backup redundancy, standardization of the all carts to 96-gallons has been recommended. The move basically gives ratepayers of 32-gallon and 64-gallon solid waste carts 50 percent to 200 percent more capacity to dispose of garbage items.

Standardization of the 96-gallon trash cart offers greater operational flexibility.

 For instance, 32-gallon carts are the smallest cart in dimension so they remain loose inside the trucks’ grappling mechanism when operators service them. Due to this deficiency, the 32-gallon size carts often fall into the hopper and need to be repaired or replaced due to being damaged.

Operationally, the remedy is to utilize two different sizes of grappling arms on the Solid Waste Fleet. But this would create an operational inefficiency because two trucks with different sized grappling arms will have to be utilized on each route. Additionally, both the 32 and 64-gallon carts have trouble standing upright on the curbside after they are serviced, due to the narrowness of their bases.

The 96-gallon cart has a wider base and when set down after being dumped, it is more stable and does not fall over as easily in windy conditions. Operationally, 64-gallon recycling carts are tough to service because cardboard may become wedged in the cart or get stuck. 

 Standardizing carts to one size will make all related procurement and repair work to wheels, lids, wheel-rods, handle bars, and remaining components more efficient. The larger size carts will also encourage less cross-contamination of waste entering into the recycling carts because they have more capacity for customers to place waste into the appropriate cart.

 Through a recycling characterization study, it was discovered that customers were filling up their 32-gallon and 64-gallon trash carts quickly and placing overflow trash items into the blue recycling cart. The contaminated recycling loads have led to an increase in disposal fees. Upgrading the size of the carts along with education and outreach will result in a decrease of contamination in the recycling carts and loads.

Protest hearing May 16

If the new rates are implemented in the manner the study recommends, the soldi waste division would still have a deficit this year and in 2024.

Then in 2025, the division is projected to have a $24,619 excess for the year in terms of revenue versus expenses. That will increase to $94,538 in 2026 and $204,357 by 2027.

A protest hearing regarding the rate increase is tentatively set for Tuesday, May 16, at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center council chambers, 1001 W. Center St.

As such the city is complying with Proposition 218 that requires that public utility providers follow a strictly defined process for imposing and increasing fees such as fees for solid waste service.

The city must:
*notify affected property owners of the proposed rate increases.

*clearly demonstrate that the amounts of the proposed rates are cost justified.

*hold a public hearing no less than 45 days after noticing property owners, at which the City hears all protests to the proposed rates.

 These rates are subject to “majority protest,” meaning they cannot be imposed if a majority of affected property owners or residents submit written protests opposing the rates. For purposes of the majority protest, property owner and resident protests are counted separately, such that a majority protest may be met by either group separately, but not together.

If You wish to protest these new fees you must:

*notify the City in writing by close of business on May 15, 2023, that you oppose the proposed fees.

*you must identify the property address affected by the proposed fees and for which you are protesting the fees, and print and sign your name on the written protest; and send to: City of Manteca Attn: City Clerk, 1001 W Center Street, Manteca CA 95337.

*or attend the May 16, 2023, public hearing and submit a written protest indicating the property address and including your name and signature before the close of the public hearing.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com