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ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: May 7, 1996
Dept. File: 4600
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Refuse Disposal Fees
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the refuse disposal fees for disposal of solid waste at
the Vancouver South Transfer Station and Vancouver Landfill
be established as shown in Appendix A, effective July 1,
1996.
B. THAT $4,500 be provided from the Residential Drop-off (RDO)
fee revenues for the publicizing of the RDO fees.
C. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to bring
forward the necessary By-law amendments.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council has set the Vancouver commercial tipping fee equal to the
Regional tipping fee. Council has set residential drop-off (RDO) fees
on a cost recovery basis at the Vancouver Landfill and the Vancouver
South Transfer Station. The RDO fees have been set at a rate less than
the commercial tipping fees.
PURPOSE
This report recommends lowering Vancouver's commercial tipping fee,
increasing the RDO fees for truck and trailer loads at the Vancouver
Landfill, and changing the RDO fee vehicle category at both the
Vancouver South Transfer Station and Vancouver Landfill.
BACKGROUND
The solid waste agreement between the City of Vancouver, GVRD and Delta
requires the City to charge the regional tipping fee for all commercial
waste delivered to the City's disposal facilities. However, the
agreement allows the City to charge a different fee for residential
waste delivered by residents. Accordingly, City Council has approved a
lower fee structure for residential drop-off (RDO) waste to make it
reasonably economical for residents to dispose of their residential
waste.
The RDO fees are set on a cost-recovery basis. A flat fee is charged
for all loads weighing 500 kg. or less. The purpose of the flat rate
is to expedite RDO load processing at the weighscales. Most RDO loads
are delivered in pickup trucks and trailers.
For RDO loads between 501 kg. and 900 kg., the fee increases on a
graduated scale. For loads greater than 900 kg., the full regional
tipping fee, currently $69/tonne, applies.
The RDO waste received at the Vancouver Landfill is delivered mainly by
residents of Delta and Richmond, and to a lesser extent from White
Rock. Most RDO waste delivered to the Vancouver South Transfer Station
comes from Vancouver residents.
DISCUSSION
The GVRD has approved lowering the regional tipping fee from $69 per
tonne to $65 per tonne effective July 1, 1996. Accordingly, the City
must also lower the commercial tipping fee charged at its disposal
facilities.
The GVRD is lowering the regional tipping fee to reflect principally
lower capital debt costs. By lowering the tipping fee, the GVRD has
decreased the incentive for private waste haulers to export waste to a
lower cost disposal facility outside the Lower Mainland. The lower
regional fee will benefit the member municipalities who pay the
regional fee for residential waste disposal. However, Vancouver, Delta
and Surrey will see a decline in their revenues.
Vancouver's surplus commercial tipping fee revenues are currently used
to fund the City's recycling programs, and the balance is transferred
to the Solid Waste Capital Reserve. The lower tipping fee will
decrease Vancouver's annual transfer to the Solid Waste Capital Reserve
by about $600,000.
The RDO fees were last increased on July 4, 1994. However, the cost
per tonne of disposing RDO refuse at the Landfill has increased since
then. The increased cost per tonne is due to increased Landfill
operating costs and lower RDO tonnages. Most of the RDO costs are
fixed and therefore lower tonnages increases the cost per tonne. An
increase in the flat RDO fees at the Landfill is necessary to keep them
on a break-even basis.
A minor change is also recommended for the graduated RDO fee scale.
The existing fee for RDO loads between 501 and 700 kg is equal to 50%
of the regional tipping fee. However, the RDO cost per tonne at both
the Transfer Station and Landfill is now greater than 50% of the
regional tipping fee. Therefore, it is recommended that the fee for
this weight category be increased to 75% of the regional tipping fee.
Some small haulers who provide a rubbish removal service to Vancouver
homeowners have expressed a concern about the existing RDO fee
structure. These haulers use trucks which are slightly larger than
pickup trucks or vans. Therefore, they do not fall into the RDO
vehicle category and must pay the full commercial tipping fee.
However, their load weights and customer base are the same as those of
the small haulers who use pickup trucks. Thus, these haulers believe
they are not being treated the same as their competitors who use pickup
trucks or vans. To address the haulers' concern, staff recommend
applying the same fee structure to all truck or trailer loads. It is
estimated that the loss in revenues from this change will be minor.
The recommended fees are shown in Appendix A.
It is recommended that the new fees be publicized in advance of
implementation and that $4,500 be approved from the RDO fee revenues
for this purpose.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no environmental implications from the recommended fee
increases. However, keeping residential disposal fees at a reasonable
level minimizes the amount of illegal dumping by residents.
CONCLUSION
Effective July 1, 1996, the GVRD is lowering the regional tipping fee
from $69 per tonne to $65 per tonne. The solid waste agreement between
Vancouver, Delta and the GVRD requires that Vancouver charge the same
fee at its disposal facilities.
The RDO fees were last increased on July 4, 1994. Since then the cost
per tonne of disposing refuse at the Vancouver Landfill RDO facility
has increased. A fee increase is now required to keep the Landfill RDO
operations on a break even basis.
To address a concern of some small rubbish haulers, staff recommend the
same fee structure be applied to all vehicle loads other than car and
station wagon loads.
Last, it is recommended the fee for 501 kg to 700 kg loads be increased
to 75% of the regional tipping fee.
* * * * *
APPENDIX A
DISPOSAL FEES
1. Disposal of refuse by way of the transfer station at 377 West Kent
Avenue North:
(a) where the load, not exceeding a weight of 500 kg, is carried
by a:
Existing Recommended
(i) passenger vehicle
(2 or 4 door sedan) $ 6.00 $ 6.00
(ii) station wagon $ 7.00 $ 7.00
(iii) pick-up truck or van $15.00 N/A
replaced with
(iii) vehicle other than (i) or (ii) N/A $15.00
(iv) trailer of a size cabable of being
hauled by a passenger vehicle $15.00 N/A
replaced with
(iv) trailer N/A $15.00
(b) where the load is carried by any of the vehicles described in
clause (a) and has a weight of:
(i) 501 kg to 700 kg $0.045/kg $0.049/kg
(ii) 701 kg to 900 kg $0.055/kg $0.049/kg
(iii) 901 kg and greater $0.069/kg $0.065/kg
2. Disposal of refuse at the Landfill on Benson Road in the
Corporation of Delta:
(a) where the load, not exceeding a weight of 500 kg, is carried
by a:
(i) passenger vehicle
(2 or 4 door sedan) $ 6.00 $ 6.00
(ii) station wagon $ 7.00 $ 7.00
(iii) pick-up truck $13.00 N/A
replaced with
(iii) vehicle other than (i) or (ii) N/A $15.00
(iv) trailer of a size capable of being
hauled by a passenger vehicle $13.00 N/A
replaced with
(iv) trailer N/A $15.00
(b) where the load is carried by any of the vehicles described in
clause (a) and has a weight of:
(i) 501 kg to 700 kg $0.045/kg $0.049/kg
(ii) 701 kg to 900 kg $0.055/kg $0.049/kg
(iii) 901 kg or greater $0.069/kg
$0.065/kg
3. Disposal of refuse other than as provided for in Sections 1, 2 and
4:
(a) (i) where the load is covered $0.069/kg $0.065/kg
(ii) where the load is uncovered $0.138/kg $0.130/kg
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May 1, 1996
BJD:
REFUSE DISPOSAL FEES COUNCIL REPORT
A potential problem with the proposed solution to the small haulers' concern is that
the weighmasters may become lax and not weigh non-pickup truck loads which are in the
range of about 500 to 1,000 kg. (i.e., it is less work for the weighmasters to flat
rate a load than to weigh a truck in and out) Thus, the City loses revenues if this
happens and the sentence on page 3 stating that the revenue loss will be minor will
be proven false. We may want to require that weighmasters weigh all truck loads to
eliminate this potential loss in revenues.
HHB
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