Trash Fee Cuts Not Likely to Hit Level Before Bankruptcy

If one of the biggest costs for getting rid of our garbage goes down by nearly 40%, it stands to reason that the garbage bills of the county’s 750,000 households and businesses should follow suit. Right?

Not exactly.

Even though the county’s landfill dumping fees--hiked dramatically to help offset 1994 bankruptcy losses--are dropping to the lowest levels in six years, residents in some cities probably won’t ever see their garbage bills return to pre-bankruptcy levels.

Almost all cities have reduced garbage collection rates over the last year as the county began reducing its landfill fees. And most cities say they hope to pass along some of the savings from the latest cut in dumping fees approved earlier this month.

But many officials insist that they cannot fully roll back rates because of higher fuel, recycling and operating costs.

A few cities, including Anaheim and Huntington Beach, don’t plan to reduce customer rates at all, citing increased collection costs and other factors. Huntington Beach residential rates will either stay flat or rise slightly in the next year, said Ray Silver, the assistant city administrator.

Laguna Beach ratepayers could see their monthly collection bills rise from $11 to as much as $16.50 despite the lower landfill charges. Officials said the increase is needed because the costs of implementing a new recycling program will far surpass the savings from lower dumping fees. Before the bankruptcy, residents paid $9.92 a month.

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In other cities, officials said they are still trying to weigh the lower landfill costs against other operating costs to determine whether they can reduce household trash bills.

“I would love to say the rates are going down, but that is not always the case,” said Placentia City Administrator Robert D’Amato. “I wish we could lower it accordingly, but there are other issues . . . [and] costs that we must keep under consideration.”

The Board of Supervisors voted earlier this month to reduce landfill dumping fees a second time, from $27 to $22 a ton, for cities and sanitary districts that agreed to 10-year disposal contracts.

County supervisors lowered the rate from its peak, post-bankruptcy level of $35 a ton last year, because some trash haulers were threatening to use less costly landfills in neighboring counties--a move that would have effectively deprived the county of the added revenue it sought to raise with the higher rate.

The latest rollback will put the rate slightly lower than the $22.75 charged immediately before the county’s bankruptcy.

Most cities increased their garbage collection rates in 1995 to reflect the $35 fee, and most reduced them in 1996 when the landfill rate fell to $27.

City and county officials say the new arrangement, lowering fees in exchange for long-term commitments to use the county’s landfills, will provide a steady flow of revenue to the county and predictable dumping costs for trash haulers.

But they acknowledge that monthly garbage bills in some communities are not likely to return to pre-1995 level despite the $22 rate.

Officials stressed that landfill dumping fees are only one thing they consider when setting monthly garbage fills.

Municipal contracts with private trash haulers generally allow for garbage bills to rise in sync with the Consumer Price Index, which reflects changes in gas prices, labor and other overhead costs. The index rose 3.3% in 1996.

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The rates are also affected by recycling programs that cities have effectively been forced to adopt in recent years. State law requires cities and sanitation districts to reduce their landfill deposits by 50% from 1990 levels, and gave them until the year 2000 to meet that goal. Most Orange County cities rose to the challenge, instituted recycling programs, and met a 1996 deadline to reduce landfill deposits by 25%.

As landfill dumping declines, officials point out, reductions in dumping fees have a smaller impact on garbage bills.

Many cities said they will use some of the savings generated from the lower landfill fees to cover increased recycling costs and to compensate for weaker markets for recycled paper and grass clippings, which are yielding less revenue.

Laguna Beach is about to upgrade its recycling program, which would require the purchase of new trucks, trash receptacles and other equipment. The new program could add anywhere from $1 to $5.50 to residents’ $11 monthly bill.

Brea residents saw their monthly garbage bills jump from $11.84 to $13.42 in 1995. Though the landfill dumping fee dropped 22% in 1996, the garbage bills have remained roughly the same because of increased recycling and operating costs.

“If recycling costs go up and the landfill fees are reduced, the trash bills could remain the same, and we would not have to pass along those higher costs,” said Brea City Manager Frank Benest, an architect of the city’s disposal contract.

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In 1995, Huntington Beach increased its residential trash rate from $12.20 to $13.55, where it is expected to remain for at least the time being.

Anaheim’s monthly rate rose from $12.86 before the bankruptcy to $15.06 in 1995. The city reduced residential bills to $14.33 to reflect the 1996 cut in landfill fees. But the latest fee cut will probably not reach customers.

“It will eliminate any future increases for the next 12 months,” said Tom Wood, the deputy city manager. “It is going to hold them flat.”

Officials in many other cities, including Irvine, Villa Park, Fullerton, Stanton, Tustin, Santa Ana and Dana Point, said they expect to eventually pass on some decreases to consumers. Several cities said the changes could shave monthly bills anywhere from a dime to 60 cents.

Representatives in Yorba Linda, Buena Park, La Habra, La Palma and elsewhere said they were still studying the issue and didn’t know whether garbage bills would be reduced.

“It probably will be a wash, or a slight decrease,” said Tami Piscotty, senior management assistant for La Palma.

Residents in some cities are unaffected by the changing landfill charges. San Clemente absorbed the landfill fee increase, and it’s collection rate has remained flat since 1992. A Newport Beach law requires the city to pay garbage collection rates, while Seal Beach and Los Alamitos have been dumping their trash in Los Angeles County and have charged the same collection rates for three years.

Several South County cities, including Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo and Lake Forest, actually managed to cut their garbage bills during this period, in most cases by negotiating new contracts with trash haulers.

Benest, the Brea city manager, insists that the new disposal contracts offer benefits to the public that go beyond an immediate drop in collection rates.

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By keeping the county’s three landfills in public hands, he said, residents retain control of a system that their tax dollars built. The landfills, in Brea, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano, have a half-century of storage capacity, while other Southern California dumps are filling up fast.

Because the contracts lock in a set landfill dumping rate, garbage bills should stabilize in the long-term, Benest added.

“Until now, there had been this constant fluctuation that makes it difficult to know what the rates should be,” he said. “It avoids the volatility.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Dumping Fees Dropping

In July, the county will reduce its landfill dumping fee to $22 per ton, the lowest rate since 1993. The drop comes after the county raised the dumping charge by more than 50% in the wake of its December 1994 bankruptcy. The trend:

1994: $22.75

1995: $35.00

1996: $27.00

1997: $22.00*

* Beginning July 1 for cities, sanitation districts that agree to long-term trash contracts with the county.

A breakdown of monthly residential trash collection rates before the 1994 bankruptcy, the peak post-bankruptcy rates and current rates:

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Community Before After Current Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Anaheim $12.86 $15.06 $14.33 Brea $11.94 $11.84 $13.81 Buena Park $11.19 $12.75 $11.79 Costa Mesa $12.30 $13.56 $12.62 Cypress $11.86 $13.93 $13.02 Dana Point $13.50 $13.50 $13.10 Fountain Valley $15.20 $16.46 $16.00 Fullerton $11.15 $13.45 $12.90 Garden Grove Sanitary $12.30 $15.20 $14.35 Huntington Beach $12.20 $12.20-$13.55 $13.55 Irvine $9.92 $9.73-$10.56 $9.95 La Habra $10.41 $14.47 $12.89 La Palma $10.32 $11.81 $10.91 Laguna Beach $9.92 $11.67 $11.00 Laguna Hills N/A $15.84 $12.00 Laguna Niguel $14.31 $13.54 $13.54 Lake Forest $13.86 $15.09 $11.00 Los Alamitos $12.56 $12.56 $12.56 Mission Viejo $13.2 $13.29 $12.64 Midway City Sanitary $8.16** $8.16 $6.75 Newport Beach*** N/A N/A N/A Orange $11.48 $10.93 $10.93 Placentia $12.79 $14.36 $13.96 San Clemente $11.76 $11.76-$15.18 $11.76 San Juan Capistrano N/A $11.91-$16.12 $13.47 Seal Beach $12.25 $12.25 $12.25 Stanton $12.95 $15.50 $14.00 Tustin $11.11 $12.25 $11.74 Villa Park N/A $15.60 $14.62 Yorba Linda $13.52 $16.53 $15.78

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** Covers portions of Westminster, Garden Grove and Midway City; rate was $4 per year until 1993

*** City pays for trash collection

Sources: Cities, sanitary districts, Orange County Integrated Waste Management Department

Researched by SHELBY GRAD / Los Angeles Times