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View Winners → City Council to Consider Athens Services Rate Increase Request
Monrovia Weekly Jul 31, 2020
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AthensServices has requested a 5.66% rate increase, which will be considered by the MonroviaCity Council on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
Asa part of the Exclusive Franchise Agreement (EFA) between the city and Athens,the Closed Loop Organics Recycling Program created a phased in program forcompliance with organic waste recycling. The phased in approach began earlywith the largest generators of green and organic waste in 2017 and expanded todifferent customer segments every year. As of Jan. 1, 2020, AB1594 requires allgreen and organic waste that is generated in Monrovia to be separated from thetraditional waste stream and recycled. Prior to January, green and organicwaste was sent to several facilities throughout Southern California but now,all green and organic waste will be transferred to American Organics inVictorville, Calif. for processing.
Totransfer all green and organic waste to American Organics, Athens has beendeveloping changes to their operations. While the use of American Organics willensure that the city maintains compliance with several state regulatoryrequirements, there will be some operational changes necessary to completethese efforts. While Monrovians will not see these changes in the way thattheir waste is collected, Athens must ensure that all material is properlysorted and delivered to the facility that is further away. In addition, as thefacility is newer and advanced in the way it handles materials, the tipping feesare slightly higher than the other locations that have been utilized. As such,Athens is proposing a rate increase for compliance with AB1594 of 3.64% tocover the costs associated with additional transportation and increased tippingfees associated with recycling these materials.
Inaddition to the proposed adjustment related to AB1594, the EFA allows forAthens to seek additional adjustments, on an annual basis, related to theConsumer Price Index (CPI) and Minimum Wage.The CPI for April 2020 was 0.70%,which is allowed a 1% markup per the EFA, creating a CPI total request of 1.7%.The requested adjustment related to minimum wage is 0.32%. A summary of therequested adjustment is as follow:
- AB1594 Impacts: 3.64%.
- AnnualCPI Adjustment: 1.70%.
- AnnualMinimum Wage Adjustment: 0.32%.
- TotalRequested Adjustment: 5.66%.
