On Oct. 31, the Puente Hills landfill in the City of Industry – the largest dumpsite in the country – closed after 55 years of operation.
Environmentalist groups applauded the shutdown. But Athens Services – the waste collection company that services Redondo Beach homes and businesses – did not.
Without Puente Hills, Athens has no choice but to transport Redondo Beach waste further, to a landfill in San Bernardino County. As a result it has requested that the city pass on to its taxpayers a 10 percent net increase in trash collection fees.
Presently, single-family residential households pay $14.24 per month for trash pick-up; a 10 percent net increase would imply an additional $1.21 per month. The average commercial business pays $72.89 per month; a rate adjustment would add $7.29 to that monthly fee.
Athens chief operating officer Gary Clifford spoke to the Redondo Beach City Council on Tuesday night about Athens’ process and the reasons underlying its request.
All waste from Redondo Beach is transported to Athens’ production facility in the City of Industry, where it is divided into recyclable and residual product. The recyclable product will continue to be shuttled to Puente Hills, which will continue to operate a materials recovery facility, or recycling center. Due to the closure of its landfill, however, its gate fee will rise by nearly 20 percent, and its green waste fee by almost 60 percent.
The remainder will go to a San Bernardino landfill.
District 5 Councilmember Matt Kilroy likened Athens’ request to “trying to do an equation when you’re missing a few variables.”
“I think we’re paying something in the neighborhood of $5 million a year for trash collection services… My question then becomes what part of that $5 million had you been paying to Puente Hills?” he asked Clifford. “What’s the increase? Because the 20 percent isn’t on the entire $5 million, obviously. The 20 percent is only on a very small portion of what your actual costs are.”
Clifford said his staff has yet to determine a figure, as Tuesday’s request was preliminary. Actually achieving an increase will demand a lengthy process.
District 2 Councilmember Bill Brand expressed opposition to the rate increase. He was on the council in January 2011 when Athens was awarded the city’s trash collection contract, and remembers some competing firms indicating that the publicized closure of Puente Hills would not impact its future costs.
“You can get very complicated about all this but as far as I can tell, we already had this discussion and… it’s the risk of doing business. You won the contract maybe, potentially, you took that risk,” Brand told Clifford. “You knew that [the landfill was closing] and now you’re coming trying to get a rate increase.”
Brand said the closure of Puente Hills does not come as a surprise, as it had bearing on the council’s decision two years ago.
“That was kind of one of the main things I took into consideration… I’m not inclined to give a waiver.”
Mayor Steve Aspel said he was inclined to agree.
“If the contract was awarded because we were told one thing and then something else happened, then you’re probably out of luck,” he told Clifford. “I can’t really support that.”
According to its contract, Athens’ rate is indexed in the year-to-year change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers or five percent, whichever is less. Its current request falls outside that margin, meaning that if the City Council approves the request, the proposed rate adjustment will require the approval from Redondo Beach voters.
Under Proposition 218, taxpayers have the right to approve or reject property tax increases being imposed by the local government.
“I’m always scared about the Proposition 218 increases because… most people throw those [mailers] in the trash. I don’t think that’s a true representation of people’s real feelings on a rate increase or tax increase,” Aspel said.
City staff and Athens will again appear before the City Council in December with a more refined proposal.
