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

For immediate release: 8/1/08
For more information, Contact: Contact person name, (206) 555-1212

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 customers 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.

• 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.

In addition to providing a reliable water supply to more than 1.3 million customers in the Seattle metropolitan area, SPU provides essential sewer, drainage, solid waste and engineering services that safeguard public health, maintain the city’s infrastructure and protect, conserve and enhance the region's environmental resources.

For more information view the 2009 Solid Waste and Water Rates FAQ (PDF).

Rate Tables and Solid Waste Options Table

View Rate Tables > (PDF)

View Solid Waste Options > (PDF)

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Seattle Public Utilities