City of Duarte CA : DUARTE RESIDENTIAL REFUSE & RECYCLING RATES INCREASE 1.7% EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1st

DUARTE, CA, January 22, 2018 - Duarte residents can expect to see a modest approximate $0.38 cent increase per month increase in their residential refuse and recycling rates effective January 1, 2018 from $22.07 to $22.45 based on the most common form of service i.e. 90-gallon trash container, 60-gallon recyclable container, and 60-gallon green waste container. Under the City's contract with Burrtec, annual rate adjustments for refuse collection and recycling are permitted based upon a specific formula including increases to the Consumer Price Index, waste disposal tipping fees and fuel costs. Burrtec also requested a slight 4 cents increase for residential street sweeping raising from $1.51 to $1.55 per month. Upon finalization of the new Citywide Street Sweeping Program, in 2018 this fee will increase to $1.77 per month to accommodate the alternate day, alternate side of the street schedule.

In comparison to other municipal services over the past year, refuse disposal and recycling continues to remain relatively stable and service levels have increased i.e.: free compost materials and paper shredding at community cleanups, commercial food waste recycling, etc. Additionally, Duarte has historically maintained some of the lowest refuse and recycling rates in Los Angeles County. In fact, amongst the 20 cities surveyed, Duarte residents still had the lowest refuse and recycling service rate.

Commercial rates will also increase for business customers over the various service levels ranges from 2.9 to 3.8% with the most common level of Refuse Service, one 3-yard bin serviced once per week, increasing by 3.1% or $5.18 per month. Other major Commercial Services, Refuse and Recycling Roll-Off services are also going up ranging from 1.3% to 3.1% and Commercial Roll-Off service such as Clean Inert and Mixed C & D both experiencing slight increases of approximately 1% to 1.4% as well.

In addition, Burrtec is also implementing a slight increase for street sweeping where Commercial Street sweeping increased from $2.89 per month to $2.96; an increase of 7 cents per month. Again, upon finalization of the new Citywide Street Sweeping Program, this fee will probably increase sometime in 2018 similar to the residential program.

Overall, Burrtec continues to be compliant with its service agreement and provides excellent customer service based on the provided documentation, in addition to independent research of the overall performance review process conducted by City staff. In October 2017, Burrtec submitted its original request for adjustments to its residential, commercial and roll off rates to become effective January 1, 2018. The City reviewed the rates proposed by Burrtec and confirmed that the calculations were in compliance with the contract provisions.

Burrtec Waste Services began providing franchised refuse collection and recycling services in the City of Duarte in 1996, with the most recent contract extension approved in 2017. In recent years, Burrtec completed the conversion of the diesel fleet to alternative fuel trucks, implemented a used oil curbside collection program and integrated free paper shredding and compost giveaway at Community Cleanups, a construction and demolition processing option, and most recently a new commercial food recycling program.