HomeMy WebLinkAboutMS MSS Rates 2016CITY OF Agenda Item No: 4.a
Meeting Date: January 4, 2016
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: CITY MANAGER
Prepared by: Cory Bytof City Manager Approval:
Sustainability & Volunteer Program Coordinator
TOPIC: ANNUAL RATE SETTING FOR MARIN SANITARY SERVICE REFUSE
RATES
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
ESTABLISHING MAXIMUM RATES COLLECTED BY MARIN SANITARY
SERVICE FOR REFUSE AND RECYCLABLE MATERIAL COLLECTION
AND DISPOSAL SERVICES, TO BE EFFECTIVE RETROACTIVELY TO
JANUARY 1, 2016
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This report details the rate adjustment proposal for 2016 necessary for Marin Sanitary Service
(MSS) to provide refuse, recycling and organics composting hauling and processing for
customers ("rate payers") in San Rafael. Rate payers include residential homeowners,
apartment owners, commercial property owners, and other businesses and tenants. The
proposed rate adjustment with new programs would increase rates by 5.71% over 2015 levels
for all rate payers. It includes adjustments based on an agreed-upon rate setting methodology
the City has with Marin Sanitary Service and is based upon an independent third -party review of
expenses and revenues by HF&H Consultants, LLC (HF&H).
RECOMMENDATION:
Conduct a public hearing and adopt the Resolution establishing maximum rates collected by
Marin Sanitary Service for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collection and Disposal Services, to
be effective retroactively to January 1, 2016.
BACKGROUND:
Each year, the City Council holds a public hearing to set the maximum collection rates that can
be collected by MSS in the City of San Rafael. This Background section of the staff report will
illustrate the overall context for the rate setting process. In general, the context includes 1) the
Franchise Agreement and rate -setting methodology with MSS, 11) environmental initiatives,
goals and regulations, and 111) MSS's services and programs.
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
File No.: 4-3-32
Council Meeting: 01/04/2016
Disposition: Resolution 14053
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
I. Franchise Aareement between Citv of San Rafael and Marin Sanitary Service
California cities are allowed to regulate local refuse and recycling services under Article XI of
the California Constitution and the California Public Resources Code and to collect a franchise
fee. The City of San Rafael has a Franchise Agreement with MSS for refuse, organic materials,
and recycling collection and services. The revenue -based methodology used to set the annual
rates is contained in the Second Amendment to the Amendment and Restatement of Collection
Agreement of the City of San Rafael with Marin Sanitary Service (Franchise Agreement)
approved by the City Council on October 1, 2012. The Franchise Agreement sets forth the
services to be provided by MSS, the rate setting methodology and the franchise fee paid to the
City of San Rafael. As required under the current Franchise Agreement, the City Council holds
an annual public hearing to set the maximum collection rates that can be charged by MSS for
services outlined in the agreement
The Franchise Agreement provides for a detailed third -party review of MSS's operations every
three years. In the interim two-year period, annual summary reviews are conducted based on
the last detailed analysis. The last detailed review occurred in 2012 year for the 2013 rates.
The proposed rate levels for 2016 are based on a detailed review. This three-year rate setting
procedure is the industry -standard for rate -setting for refuse service. As noted on page 6 of the
HF&H cover letter, several expense items are "trued -up" — or adjusted to match actual figures —
every year, not just during a detailed review. Nonetheless, some items like Benefits only get
trued -up every third year.
San Rafael, Larkspur, Ross, the County of Marin including within the Ross Valley Sanitary
District boundaries, and the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District have contracts with MSS that
utilize a similar rate setting methodology and have joined together as a Franchisors' Group to
share information and reduce costs. The Franchisors' Group meets several times per year to
oversee MSS's operations, and have met twice since October to review MSS's rate proposals
and the work of the consultant conducting the rate review. The results of the rate review are
presented in the "Analysis" section of this report.
The 2012 amendment to the Franchise Agreement included many new provisions in order to
help stabilize rates, foster zero waste goals, and adjust to changes in the industry and MSS's
services. Among the new provisions are comprehensive annual reporting to describe progress
and achievements in meeting zero waste goals through 1) programs and activities approved by
the Franchisors' Group, 2) public education reporting, and 3) reporting on new technologies and
industry best practices to enhance progress towards zero waste. The 2015 Service Area Annual
Report is included as Attachment D.
II. Environmental Initiatives and Goals
While perhaps the original purpose of refuse service had to do with public health and safety
around sanitation, it is increasingly geared more toward making progress on waste reduction
and climate change goals, which are also forms of public health and safety. The State of
California has adopted several pieces of legislation mandating significant reductions of waste to
landfill, recognizing the embedded environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions
associated with them.
Consequently, the City's Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) adopted in 2009, and subsequent
Sustainability Element of the City's General Plan, included in 2011, identified eight specific
programs under the category of "Reduce Material Consumption and Increase Resource Re -
Use," six of which have been implemented to date. In addition, San Rafael is a member of the
Marin Hazardous and Solid Waste JPA (JPA), which is the group charged with complying with
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3
the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989. The goal of the Act is to reduce the
flow of materials to landfills. The JPA Board is made up of city and town managers and the
County Administrator.
The JPA prepared a Zero Waste Feasibility Study in December 2009 which identified a goal of
achieving "zero waste in the next five to 17 years." Zero waste has been defined as 94%
diversion of materials from landfill, taking into account the need for producer responsibility and
product stewardship, which is beyond local control. The City of San Rafael adopted a Zero
Waste Resolution in August 2011 intended to be consistent with the JPA's goals.
Marin County has a current diversion rate of 74%. The City's consultant estimates that an 85%
diversion rate by 2020 will result in an emissions decrease of 22,500 metric tons of CO2. MSS
and the JPA are putting considerable time and effort into getting organics out of the landfill. The
Commercial Food to Energy (F2E) program is in its third year and is expected to increase the
diversion rate, and new statewide legislation, AB1826, which mandates commercial composting
starting in 2016, is expected to increase it as well. According to a 2014 Waste Characterization
Study, California disposes of approximately 30 million tons of waste in landfills each year, of
which more than 30 percent could be used for compost, mulch, and/or energy.
In summary, the overall industry is moving from "bringing garbage to the landfill" to "resource
hauling" including transport to recyclers and re -users to find the next highest and best use of
materials, with the landfill being the last option. It should be noted that MSS has been a leader
in this movement, as they have invested in facilities and technologies to divert materials from
the landfill, many without ratepayer assistance, including the construction of the Marin
Resource Recovery Center, Marin Recycling Center, and investments in the F2E program with
Central Marin Sanitation Agency.
III. Marin Sanitary Services and Proqrams
MSS provides residential, commercial and multi -family refuse services, including garbage,
recycling and organics collection and processing. MSS also provides trash and recycling pick-
up for City facilities, parks, and all sidewalk receptacles. Finally, MSS has a robust community
outreach and education program, which provides free resources to customers and schools to
encourage recycling and other zero waste activities.
Residential service includes single-family units and three or fewer units in a single structure.
San Rafael residential customers receive weekly trash, recycling, and organics composting
collection services.
Commercial service includes all businesses and residential apartment buildings with four or
more units. Commercial customers receive separate trash and recycling containers as well as
cardboard pickup, and may choose from a variety of carts, bins, and commercial compactors. In
addition, customers are offered the choice of two commercial organics diversion programs.
Customers with significant amounts of pre -consumer food waste may participate in the F2E
program. Commercial customers with post -consumer food waste, food soiled papers, and yard
waste may participate in the commercial composting program. All commercial services can be
picked up from one to six times per week.
Multi -family buildings are considered commercial services since they are a business enterprise
and operate differently than single family homes. They receive separate trash, recycling, and
organics containers depending on the area available for can storage. MSS works with
apartment managers and tenants to develop `green teams' to increase recycling and
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 4
composting at their complexes.
ANALYSIS:
This section will specifically examine this year's rate recommendations. Over the past fifteen
years, the approved annual increase in Marin Sanitary Service rates have ranged from less
than one percent to over 10% with an average of 4.51 %. Last year's rate increase was 2.77%.
In 2015, the Franchising Agencies again selected HF&H Consultants, LLC to conduct the rate
review. HF&H has successfully reviewed the MSS rate proposal for several years, and is highly
regarded in the industry. MSS reimburses the City and other Franchisors for the consultant's
fees for the rate review.
MSS submitted an initial rate application in August for 2016 with a proposed 11.02% increase
over 2015 rates. HF&H conducted a review of the MSS rate proposal and recommended
adjustments for Franchising Agencies based on allowable expenses in the rate setting
methodology.
The full rate review and proposed adjustments are contained in the HF&H Report (Attachment
C). The following table contains a summary of the rate increase components, which reflect
projected costs for 2016 utilizing the agreed upon rate setting methodology in the Franchise
Agreement.
Table 2: Rate Adjustment Factor Components
2016 Component Percentages
Wages
1,64%
Benefits (including workers comp)
3.71%
Depreciation and Interest
0.84%
Maintenance
1.42%
Other Operating Costs fll
2.51%
Fuel and Oil
(2.94%)
Disposal
(0.88%)
Subtotal Operations
6.259/o
Revenue Surplus net of Franchise Fees (0.64%)
Rate Adjustment Factor 5..61%
(l) Includes profit and general and administrative costs (e.g., puUc education,
customer service, etc.)
Increases
This year's rate increase is 5.61 % (before new programs, covered below) due to a variety of
factors as shown in the table. Wages increased mainly due to standard increases in accord with
MSS's collective bargaining agreement. Depreciation and interest reflects an increase in
interest rates for bulk loans MSS has on their fleet. Maintenance costs increased due to newer
equipment requiring more frequent and complex maintenance. For example, fully automated
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 5
trucks come with more intricate working parts that need to be maintained or can get damaged
and need extensive repair.
The two highest increases were for Benefits and Other Operating Costs. Benefits comprised
the largest portion of the rate increase, and were mainly due to a catch-up of actual benefits
over the past year. As noted in the HF&H review, benefit costs grew by a much higher
percentage than was accounted for in the indices, which is consistent with overall benefits cost
increases for other waste haulers and in other industries as well.
Other Operating Costs is a broad category and comprises many items which added to the
increase this year. Those included investments in technological equipment and software to
collect better data and shore up accounts and services. This should result in more efficiencies
over the coming years. It also included regulatory fees and professional fees to maintain state
level regulatory compliance. There were also permit fees related to work at the facility. In
addition, there was a one-time cost for updating their system -wide waste characterization study,
which had not been done since 2008. Finally, there were costs associated with having an
accounting firm assist with tonnage reporting and calculations in order to meet state and local
reporting goals and requirements.
Decreases
Some line items were beneficial to the overall rate adjustment. Fuel and oil costs were
significantly lower than projected and continue to show favorable effects on the rates even
though they are projected to increase some in the coming year. In addition, MSS continues to
negotiate favorable rates at disposal sites and is now bringing organics materials to the new
Redwood Landfill composting program, which is much closer than their previous location in
Zamora. Finally, Revenue Surplus net of Franchising Fees is the projected adjustment needed
to meet the revenue requirement stipulated in the Franchise Agreement, which was a favorable
adjustment this year
A more detailed analysis of these factors can be found on pages 3 - 7 in the HF&H Review
(Attachment C). This review took longer than usual due to the conclusion of the Operational
Improvement Plan (OIP), which is ending this year. This OIP was agreed upon by the
Franchisors' Group entities in 2012, and should produce long term rate benefits as the
operation becomes more efficient. The expenses related to the OIP cut across the categories
above. Examples of long-term positive outcomes would be lower workers compensation
injuries, less fuel and oil as routes are cut, and more accurate billing to capture accounts that
were not being billed.
New Programs
Franchisors' Group entities communicate program ideas they would like to see to MSS, and in
turn MSS researches costs and includes new program proposals in the annual rate application.
After a review of the costs in conjunction with the current rate adjustment, the final proposal is
as follows:
1. Increase composting in multi -family accounts
2. Increase residential customers' ability to dispose of refuse that doesn't fit into their
normal weekly service
3. Provide assistance with illegal dumping.
In order to do this, MSS would utilize existing resources freed up from efficiencies gained by the
OIP. They would also swap out the current coupon program in existence in San Rafael whereby
customers can take up to 1 cubic yard of materials to the dump twice per year during a Spring
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 6
and Fall Cleanup Program. MSS proposes to phase out that program after the spring coupon
in 2016 and phase in a 2 cubic yard curbside pickup of extra refuse in the fall, which would
eliminate the customer's need to transport it themselves. In addition, MSS proposes adding one
bulky waste pickup in the fall as well, which would allow customers to dispose of up to two large
items at curbside. In 2017 customers would receive these services twice per year.
The illegal dumping program would be in conjunction with the bulky waste pickup program
whereby MSS would offer to assist San Rafael Public Works with a small amount of illegal
dumping pickup using the same truck and crew. MSS will work with Public Works to determine
the best use of this assistance within the confines of an annual load limit in tons.
Multi -family organics composting is soon to be a requirement under State law. AB1826 was
passed last year requiring composting for commercial entities depending on the amount of
waste they generate per week. This law also requires that on and after January 1, 2016, local
jurisdictions across the state implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic
waste generated by businesses, including multi -family residential dwellings that consist of five
or more units. An organics pilot conducted in 2014 determined the most effective outreach
methods to increase participation and the most efficient mechanism for collection. MSS has
determined they would need to provide composting to approximately 750 multi -family dwellings
(approximately 15,000 tenants) in order to comply with the new law.
MSS worked with HF&H to determine appropriate costs and these proposed new programs
would add 0.1% to the rate adjustment this year, bringing the total to 5.71%. Staff in the
Franchisors' Group is in agreement that these programs would be beneficial to customers, and
would satisfy state requirements mandating recycling and composting at multi -family dwellings.
Recvclinq Revenue Fund
Another item of note is the recycling revenue fund, initiated in the new rate methodology
mentioned previously. The intention of this fund is to lessen the impact of a very volatile
commodities market for recyclable materials. For example, prices for PET plastics which are
used a lot in beverage bottles went from 6.5 to 8 cents per pound in November to 3 to 5 cents
per pound in December. Should the fund exceed a base level of $250,000 the Franchisors'
Group entities could utilize the fund for zero waste activities.
Last year's recycling revenues resulted in a current balance in the fund of negative $19,825. As
intended, this reduction in recycling revenue did not impact the overall rates. However, should
the fund exceed a balance of negative $250,000, the Franchisors' Group and MSS would need
to meet to determine a reasonable remedy for the company.
Rate Paver Cateqories and Comparisons
With the above recommendation, the cost of a 32 gallon residential landfill cart would be
increased approximately $1.83 per month, from $32.05 to $33.88. The cost of commercial
service for a 3 yard landfill dumpster picked up once per week would be increased by
approximately $22.61 per month, from $395.94 to $418.55. Recycling is included in all
accounts. Businesses with a vigorous recycling program can reduce their regular container size
or pickup schedule resulting in lower rates.
As part of conducting the rate application review, the Franchisors' Group asked HF&H to
conduct a survey of Bay Area refuse haulers. The actual survey results from our neighboring
communities are included in Attachment C. It summarizes the survey data for residential 30-35
gallon can weekly service with weekly curbside recycling and weekly organics pickup. The
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 7
2016 proposed rate of $33.88 in San Rafael is slightly lower than the Marin County average of
$35.27. Attachment C also compares the City's three -yard commercial bin (once a week)
service to those of all Bay Area cities and agencies with similar services. The San Rafael rate
of $418.55 is slightly lower than the average of other Marin County jurisdictions which is
$420.22. San Rafael's rates have traditionally been comparable with rates in other Bay Area
jurisdictions.
As in previous years, staff is recommending that the rate adjustment be applied across the
board to all residential, multi -family and commercial service accounts. Actual rates for all
services are provided as an attachment to the Resolution included with this report.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH:
Notice of the public hearing was published twice in the Marin Independent Journal (Attachment
B) and mailed to all names on file with the City Clerk. Information on the maximum annual rate
that MSS can collect is available at the City Clerk's office during the 10 days prior to the public
hearing. The proposed rate information is also provided directly to the San Rafael Chamber of
Commerce, the Business Improvement District, Marin Builder's Association, and other
interested parties. This year, Staff also provided the Staff Report and all other Council
documents to these interested parties 12 days in advance to give more time for public review.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The attachment to the Resolution (marked Exhibit C) contains the complete rate request. As
shown, the 5.71% overall increase is applied to all customer types and service options. If
approved, these rates are projected to satisfy the City's contractual obligations to meet the MSS
revenue requirement to cover San Rafael refuse and recycling service costs, including
franchise fees.
OPTIONS:
The City Council may choose to:
1. Accept the staff recommendation to institute the maximum MSS rate increases and
allocations recommended in the HF&H Report plus new programs, pursuant to the rate
setting methodology set forth in the current Franchise Agreement and shown in the
attachment to the Resolution effective retroactively to January 1, 2016.
2. Not accept the findings of the HF&H Report and the staff recommendation and provide
additional direction to staff.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
1. Open the public hearing and accept public testimony;
2. Close the public hearing;
3. Accept the report and adopt the resolution as presented
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: Resolution with Rate Schedule (marked as Exhibit C)
Attachment B: Affidavit of Publication
Attachment C: HF&H Review of MSS Rate Application, including Bay Area Rate Survey
Attachment D: MSS 2015 Service Area Annual Report
RESOLUTION NO. 14053
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL ESTABLISHING
MAXIMUM RATES COLLECTED BY MARIN SANITARY SERVICE FOR REFUSE AND
RECYCLABLE MATERIAL COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES, TO BE
EFFECTIVE RETROACTIVELY TO JANUARY 1, 2016
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael and Marin Sanitary Service have entered into an
"Amendment and Restatement of Collection Agreement of the City of San Rafael and Marin
Sanitary Service," dated September 4, 2001 and amended by a written first amendment
dated March 1, 2005 and a written second amendment dated November 14, 2012 (hereafter
the "Collection Agreement"); and,
WHEREAS, Section 3 (B) of the Collection Agreement provides for maximum rates
allowed to be collected by Marin Sanitary Service, to be amended from time to time by the
City Council; and,
WHEREAS, Exhibit "C" of the Collection Agreement provides for approved rate
schedules, as amended by the City Council from time to time, to be included as part of the
Collection Agreement; and,
WHEREAS, Marin Sanitary Service has submitted a rate application request using
the methodology outlined under Section 3 (A) of the Collection Agreement; and,
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael has conducted a review of said rate application
and produced a report recommending rate and fee adjustments; and,
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael has determined that such rate and fee
adjustments are proper, in the best interest of all citizens, and will promote public health,
safety and welfare.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL DOES
RESOLVE, DETERMINE AND ORDER AS FOLLOWS: The schedule of maximum rates
and fees attached hereto as "Exhibit C' and incorporated herein by reference, is hereby
approved to be collected by Marin Sanitary Service for refuse and recyclable material
collection and disposal services, to be effective retroactively to January 1, 2016. Said
"Exhibit C" shall be incorporated as the revised Exhibit "C" to the Collection Agreement.
I, Esther C. Beirne, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing
Resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City
Council of the City of San Rafael, held on Monday, January 4, 2016, by the following vote, to
wit:
AYES:
Councilmembers:
Bushey, Colin, Gamblin, McCullough & Mayor Phillips
NOES:
Councilmembers:
None
ABSENT:
Councilmembers:
None
ESTHER C. BEIRNE, City Clerk
EXHIBIT C
City of San Rafael
Refuse Collection Rates
Effective 1/1/2016
Effective 1/1/2016 - 5.71% Rate Increase
Residential Service (Bundled service includes 1 cart for aarbaae. 1 cart for oraraics and 1 SD/it cart for recvclina)
FLAT HILL
Cart Service Current 2015 Rate New 1101/2016 Rate Current 2015 Rate New 1/01/2016 Rate
Weekly Service
20 gallon
32 gallon
64 gallon
96 gallon
Low income - 20 gal*
Low income - 32 gal*
Low income - 64 gal*
Senior rate**
Compacted 32 gal
Compacted 64 gal
Monthly
Amt of Inc
Monthly I
Monthly
Amt of Inc
$28.80
$1.56
$30.86
$32.62
$1.76
$33.88
$1.83
$36.31
$38.38
$2.07
$67.76
$3.66
$72.62
$76.76
$4.14
$101.64
$5.49
$108.93
$115.14
$6.21
$23.03
$1.24
$24.69
$26.10
$1.41
$27.06
$1.46
$29.06
$30.72
$1.66
$54.12
$2.92
$58.12
$61.44
$3.32
$23.92
$1.29
$28.81
$30.46
$1.65
$67.76
$3.66
$72.62
$76.77
$4.15
$135.52
$7.32
$145.24
$153.53
$8.29
*Must meet PG&E CARE program eligibility requirements
**Customers with these rates prior to 2005 will keep the existing rate type. No new customers will be added with this rate type.
Multi -Family Service (Bundled service includes gaCt)9ne, recvclinq and orqanics services)
I �FLAATT HILL
lCart Service***
Current 2015 Rate
New 1/01/2016 Rate
$1,055.48
Current 2015 Rate
New 1/01/2016 Rate 1
Cart Size
3 yard
Monthly
Monthly Amt of
Inc
Monthly
Monthly
Amt of Inc 1
20 gallon
$564.87
$27.24
$28.80
$1.56
$30.86
$32.62
$1.76
32 gallon
$1,209.43
$32.05
$33.88
$1.83
$36.31
$38.38
$2.07
64 gallon
$2,205.59
$64.10
$67.76
$3.66
$72.62
$76.77
$4.15
96 gallon
4
$96.15
$101.64
$5.49
$108.93
$115.15
$6.22
Rates are per container, per # of pickups/wk
Note: Multi -Family service is equivalent to one 32 gallon cart per unit -minimum, decrease to 20 gallon per unit
subject to company review.
IBin Service - FL Collections per Week
2 yard
$304.20
$697.27
$1,055.48
$1,420.00
$1,790.93
$2,168.20
3 yard
$395.94
$725.66
$1,102.81
$1,489.49
$1,885.71
$2,291.46
4 yard
$564.87
$1,041.02
$1,580.50
$2,132.82
$2,648.38
$3,275.58
5 yard
$611.01
$1,209.43
$1,838.00
$2,482.45
$3,142.84
$3,819.11
6 yard
$716.10
$1,451.33
$2,205.59
$2,978.97
$3,771.41
$4,582.92
New 1/1/2016
1
2
3
4
5 1
6
2 yard
$321.55
$737.10
$1,115.75
$1,501.10
$1,893.20
$2,292.00
3 yard
$418.55
$767.10
$1,165.80
$1,574.55
$1,993.40
$2,422.30
4 yard
$597.10
$1,100.45
$1,670.75
$2,254.60
$2,799.60
$3,462.60
5 yard
$645.90
$1,278.50
$1,942.95
$2,624.20
$3,322.30
$4,037.20
6 yard
I
$757.00
$1,534.20
$2,331.55
$3,149.05
$3,986.75
$4,844.60
Bin Service - RL 1 2 3 4 5 1 6
current 2015 Rate
1 yard* $199.36 $401.90 $607.66 $816.58 $1,028.65 $1,243.91
2 yard $305.02 $610.24 $924.91 $1,245.94 $1,790.93 $2,168.20
New 1/1/2016 1 2 3 4 5 1 6
1 yard* $210.75 $424.85 $642.35 $863.20 $1,087.40 $1,314.95
2 yard $322.45 $645.10 $977.70 $1,317.10 $1,893.20 $2,292.00
J*No longer offered to new customers
Note: Multi -Family service is equivalent to one 32 gallon cart per unit -minimum, decrease to 20 gallon per unit
subject to company review.
Commercial Service (includes carbaale and recvclina services)
)Cart Service
Current 2015 Rate
1
32 gallon
$31.85
64 gallon
$63.70
96 gallon
$95.55
Compacted 32 gallon
$63.70
Compacted 64 gallon
$127.40
Commercial Organics (F2E) - 32 gallon
$13.20
Commercial Organics (F2E) - 64 gallon
$26.39
Commercial Organics/Compost - 32 gallon
$13.20
Commercial Organics/Compost - 64 gallon
$26.39
Bags (32 gallon)
$31.85
1
lNew 1/1/2016
1
32 gallon
$33.65
64 gallon
$67.35
96 gallon
$101.00
Compacted 32 gallon
$67.35
Compacted 64 gallon
$134.65
Commercial Organics (F2E) - 32 gallon
$13.95
Commercial Organics (F2E) - 64 gallon
$27.90
Commercial Organics/Compost - 32 gallon
$13.95
Commercial Organics/Compost - 64 gallon
$27.90
Bags (32 gallon)
$33.65
NOTE: Food Waste service: no charge for the first pickup of first cart
)Bin Service - FL
$600.36
Current 2015 Rate
1
2 yard
$304.20
3 yard
$395.94
4 yard
$564.87
5 yard
$611.01
6 yard
$725.39
INew 1/1_/2016
1
2 yard
$321.55
3 yard
$418.55
4 yard
$597.10
5 yard
$645.90
6 yard
$766.80
)Bin Service - RL
3
)Current 2015 Rate
1
I1 yard*
$206.89
2 yard
$313.34
New 1/1/2016
1
1 yard*
$218.70
2 yard
$331.25
)*No longer offered to new customers
4
)
)Bin Service - RO
6
ICurrent2015 Rate
1
10 yard
$1,022.37
12 yard
$191.10
18 yard
$1,836.31
20 yard
$2,040.38
25 yard
$2,854.20
New 1/1/2016
1
10 yard
$1,080.75
12 yard
$573.30
18 yard
$1,941.15
20 yard
$2,156.90
25 yard
$3,017.15
Collections per Week
2 3 4 5 6
$417.73 $632.59 $851.41 $1,074.19 $1,300.98
$634.64 $963.86 $1,301.08 $1,806.84 $2,192.04
2 3 4 5 1 6 1
$441.60 $668.70 $900.05 $1,135.55 $1,375.25
$670.90 $1,018.90 $1,375.35 $1,910.00 $2,317.20
Collections per Week
2
3
4
5
6
Per Additional
$63.70
$95.55
$127.40
$159.25
$191.10
Single Pick-up
$127.40
$191.10
$254.80
$318.50
$382.20
$240.13
$191.10
$286.65
$382.20
$477.75
$573.30
$288.18
$127.40
$191.10
$254.80
$318.50
$382.20
$432.27
$254.80
$382.20
$509.60
$637.00
$764.40
$480.31
$26.40
$39.60
$52.80
$66.00
$79.20
$600.36
$52.78
$79.17
$105.56
$131.95
$158.34
Per Additional
$26.40
$39.60
$52.80
$66.00
$79.20
Single Pick-up
$52.78
$79.17
$105.56
$131.95
$158.34
$253.85
$63.70
$95.55
$127.40
$159.25
$191.10
$304.65
2
3
4
5
6
$456.95
$67.30
$100.95
$134.60
$168.25
$201.90
$507.75
$134.65
$202.00
$269.35
$336.70
$404.00
$634.65
$202.00
$303.00
$404.00
$505.05
$606.05
$134.65
$202.00
$269.35
$336.70
$404.00
$269.35
$404.00
$538.70
$673.35
$808.05
$27.90
$41.85
$55.80
$69.75
$83.70
$55.80
$83.70
$111.60
$139.50
$167.40
$27.90
$41.85
$55.80
$69.75
$83.70
$55.80
$83.70
$111.60
$139.50
$167.40
$67.35
$101.00
$134.65
$168.35
$202.00
Collections per Week
Per Additional
2
3
4
5
6
Single Pick -u
$698.87
$1,060.26
$1,429.55
$1,806.84
$2,192.04
$77.1$
$737.32
$1,123.86
$1,522.33
$1,932.74
$2,355.06
$94.75
$1,044.19
$1,590.05
$2,151.91
$2,577.00
$3,323.30
$138.68
$1,228.85
$1,873.13
$2,537.24
$3,221.25
$3,925.14
$147.86
$1,474.62
$2,247.74
$3,044.68
$3,865.48
$4,710.15
$168.55
Per Additional
2
3
4
5
6
Single Pick-up
$738.80
$1,120.80
$1,511.20
$1,910.00
$2,317.20
$81.60
$779.40
$1,188.05
$1,609.25
$2,043.10
$2,489.55
$100.15
$1,103.80
$1,680.85
$2,274.80
$2,724.15
$3,513.05
$146.60
$1,299.00
$1,980.10
$2,682.10
$3,405.20
$4,149.25
$156.30
$1,558.80
$2,376.10
$3,218.55
$4,086.20
$4,979.10
$178.15
Collections per Week
2 3 4 5 6
$417.73 $632.59 $851.41 $1,074.19 $1,300.98
$634.64 $963.86 $1,301.08 $1,806.84 $2,192.04
2 3 4 5 1 6 1
$441.60 $668.70 $900.05 $1,135.55 $1,375.25
$670.90 $1,018.90 $1,375.35 $1,910.00 $2,317.20
Collections per Week
Per Additional
2
3
4
5
6
Single Pick-up
$2,092.22
$3,210.88
$4,376.60
$5,590.06
$6,851.18
$240.13
$288.18
$3,758.55
$5,766.61
$7,860.57
$10,040.39
$12,306.12
$432.27
$4,176.16
$6,407.35
$8,733.95
$11,156.01
$13,673.45
$480.31
$5,841.97
$8,612.15
$11,739.17
$14,994.64
$18,378.40
$600.36
Per Additional
2
3
4
5
6
Single Pick-up
$2,211.70
$3,394.20
$4,626.50
$5,909.25
$7,242.40
$253.85
$304.65
$3,973.15
$6,095.90
$8,309.40
$10,613.70
$13,008.80
$456.95
$4,414.60
$6,773.20
$9,232.65
$11,793.00
$14,454.20
$507.75
$6,175.55
$9,103.90
$12,409.50
$15,850.85
$19,427.80
$634.65
Additional Services: Fees and Collection Details
Fees apply to all customer types (residential, commercial, multifamily) unless noted
Item
Detail
Current 2015 Rate
New 2016 Rate
Extra Organics Cart Rental
35 or 64 gallon cart
$1.70
$1.80
(Residential Only)
items due to the extra weight and/or size.
Extra Split Cart Rental (Residential
64 or 96 gallon cart
$1.70
$1.80
Only)
If part of larger load
$5.00
$5.00
Extra garbage (regular service day)
Up to 32 gallon bag/ customer owned can
$10.00
$10.57
Extra 20 Gal. garbage (off -day in MSS Additional single empty of cart (applies to
$6.29
$6.65
cart)
contaminated carts as well).
Chairs, BBQs, small desk, etc.
$7.5-25.00
Extra 32 Gal. garbage (off -day in MSS Additional single empty of cart (applies to
$7.40
$7.82
cart)
contaminated carts as well).
Materials Requirin
Special Handling (MRSH fee included in price)
Extra garbage 64 Gal. (off -day in MSS
Additional single empty of cart (applies to
$14.79
$15.64
cart)
contaminated carts as well).
E -waste
TVs, computers, monitors, consoles I
Extra garbage 96 Gal. (off -day in MSS Additional single empty of cart (applies to
$22.19
$23.46
cart)
contaminated carts as well).
Current 2015 Rate
New 2016 Rate
Lock Charges (Customer owned)
Each lock, monthly
$21.14
$22.35
Lock Charges
Each lock, single extra unlock/relock fee
$4.65
$4.92
MSS Company Lock
$19.50
$20.61
Steam clean
Cart
$12.90
$13.64
Steam clean
Bin
$88.05
$93.08
Steam clean
Compactor (rate varies by size, max rate)
$185.79
$196.40
Box Rental
1 yard
$62.42
$65.98
Box Rental
2 yard
$70.26
$74.27
Box Rental
3-5 yard
$77.71
$82.15
Box Rental
6 yard
$87.81
$92.82
Box Rental
10 yard
$103.60
$109.52
Box Rental
18 yard
$207.62
$219.48
Box Rental
20 yard
$210.67
$222.70
Box Rental
25 yard
$219.51
$232.04
Compactor
Hauling charge per empty
$197.50
$208.78
Compactor
Tipping fee per ton
$87.87
$92.89
Compactor
Special handling per empty
rates vary by job
Compacted refuse
Stationary Front Loader per empty
$76.31
$80.67
Distance Charges
Per cart/bin, Each way
Current 2015 Rate
New 2016 Rate
Distance
5'-50'
$4.16
$4.40
Distance
Over 50'
$8.42
$8.90
Current 2015 Rate
New 2016 Rate
Return fee cart
On service day
$5.00
$5.29
Return fee cart
Off -service day pick-up fee
$17.50
$18.50
Return fee Apartment
On or off service day return fee
$17.50
$18.50
Return fee bin
Off -service day
See commercial/MF
rates
Resume service fee
To restart account after stop for non-payment
NAI
$35.00
Household Bulky Items
Item
Detail
Rate Range
Special Collection Fee
One time fee applied to ALL bulky item
$25.00
$25.00
collections for the use of a special collections
vehicle and driver.
Special Handling Fee
When two drivers are needed to collect
$20.00
$20.00
items due to the extra weight and/or size.
Mattresses & Box Springs
Twin, Full, Queen/King
$15-20.00
$15-20.00
Toilets and Sinks
If part of larger load
$5.00
$5.00
If single item
$10.00
$10.00
Large Furniture
(<6ft, >6ft, recliners, sectionals)
$25-35.00
$25-35.00
Misc. Furniture
Chairs, BBQs, small desk, etc.
$7.5-25.00
$7.5-25.00
Tires
Auto and Truck
$10-15.00
$10-15.00
Materials Requirin
Special Handling (MRSH fee included in price)
Large Appliances
Clothes or Dish Washer
$15-35.00
$15-35.00
E -waste
TVs, computers, monitors, consoles I
$25-35.00
$25-35.00
Marin Independent Journal
4000 Civic Center Drive, Suite 301
San Rafael, CA 94903
415-382-7335
legals@marinij.com
2070419
CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
CITY CLERK, ROOM 209
1400 FIFTH AVENUE, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901
SAN RAFAEL, CA 94915-1560
PROOF OF PUBLICATION
(2015.5 C.C.P.)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
County of Marin
I am a citizen of the United States and a resident of the
County aforesaid: I am over the age of eighteen years, and
not a party to or interested in the above matter. I am the
principal clerk of the printer of the MARIN INDEPENDENT
JOURNAL, a newspaper of general circulation, printed and
published daily in the County of Marin, and which
newspaper has been adjudged a newspaper of general
circulation by the Superior Court of the County of Marin,
State of California, under date of FEBRUARY 7, 1955,
CASE NUMBER 25566; that the notice, of which the
annexed is a printed copy (set in type not smaller than
nonpareil), has been published in each regular and entire
issue of said newspaper and not in any supplement
thereof on the following dates, to -wit:
12/23/2015, 12/30/2015
I certify (or declare) under the penalty of perjury that the
foregoing is true and correct.
Dated this 30th day of December, 2015.
Signature
PROOF OF PUBLICATION
Legal No. 0005640652
CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The City Council of the City of San Rafael will
hold a public hearing:
PURPOSE: Public Hearing:
To consider a request by Marin Sanitary
Service for a rate increase for refuse collection
and recycling services and adoption of a
Resolution amending the agreement setting
maximum rates for the year 2016.
DATE/TIME/PLACE:
Monday, January 4, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.
City Hall Council Chambers,
1400 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael
WHAT WILL HAPPEN:
You may comment on the proposed Resolu-
tion. The City Council will consider all public
testimony and will then decide whether to
approve the Resolution.
IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND: You may send a
letter to Esther C. Beirne, City Clerk, City of
San Rafael, P.O. Box 151560, San Rafael, CA
94915-1560. You may also hand deliver a letter
to the City Clerk prior to the meeting.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: You may contact
Cory Bytof, Sustainability and Volunteer Pro-
gram Coordinator, at (415) 485-3407. Office
hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to
5:00 p.m.
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL
/s/ ESTHER C. BEI RNE
ESTHER C. BEIRNE, City Clerk
no.1415 December 23, December 30, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's
2016 Rate Application
HF&H Consultants, LLC
This page intentionally left blank
;�_MONSULTANT_c,,LLC
201 N. Civic Drive, Suite 230
Walnut Creek, California 94596
Telephone: 925/977-6950
Fax: 925/977-6955
www.hfh-consultants.com
December 17, 2015
Sent via email
Ms. Cristine Alilovich
Assistant City Manager
City of San Rafael
1400 Fifth Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94919-1560
Mr. Steve Devine
Program Manager
County of Marin
1600 Los Gamos Drive, Suite #210
San Rafael, CA 94903
Ms. Susan McGuire
Administrative Services Manager
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District
300 Smith Ranch Road
San Rafael, CA 94903
Reference Number: S3895
Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Mr. Dan Schwarz
City Manager
City of Larkspur
400 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939
Mr. Joe Chinn
Town Manager
Town of Ross
31 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
Ross, CA 94957
Subject: Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
Dear Ms. McGuire, Ms. Alilovich and Messrs. Schwarz, Chinn, and Divine:
Robert D. Hilton, CMC
John W. Farnkopf, PE
Laith B. Ezzet, CMC
Richard J. Simonson, CMC
Marva M. Sheehan, CPA
Robert C. Hilton, CMC
On September 8, 2015, Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) submitted its application for an 11.09% increase to
its solid waste, recyclables and organic materials collection rates, effective January 1, 2016. HF&H
conducted our review of the application based on the rate methodology agreed to between MSS and the
cities of San Rafael and Larkspur, the Town of Ross, the County of Marin (County), and the Las Gallinas
Valley Sanitary District (LGVSD), collectively referred to as the "Franchisors". We find that a 5.61%
increase is appropriate.
In 2014, the unincorporated areas of the County known as the Ross Valley Sanitary District — North
(RVSD-N) became part of a master agreement between the County and MSS. All three of the County areas
served by MSS (Ross Valley Sanitary District — South (RVSD-S), Central County, and RVSD-N) are now
included in the 2016 rate -setting process. This change in agency members is reflected in the findings and
information contained in this report.
" Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Marin Franchisors Group
December 17, 2015
Page 2 of 7
The following table summarizes, by jurisdiction, the current and proposed 32 -gallon residential rates,
which is the most common subscription level.
Table 1: Residential 32 -gallon Rate Summary
Jurisdiction
Current Rate
($/mo.)
Proposed Rate
($/mo.)
$ Difference
San Rafael
$32.05
$33.85
$1.80
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District
$28.02
$29.59
$1.57
Larkspur
$35.21
$37.19
$1.98
Ross
$30.65
$32.37
$1.72
County of Marin — RVSD-S*
$34.24
$36.16
$1.92
County of Marin*
$33.76
$35.65
$1.89
ICountyof Marin—RVSD-N* (sleepy Hollow)
$37.40
$39.50
$2.10
ICountyofMarin—RVSD-N* (Oak Manor)
$36.22
$38.25
$2.03
* Final County Rates are to be determined
Findings and Recommendations
Upon receipt of the application, HF&H reviewed the documents for completeness and compliance with
the procedures agreed upon by MSS and the Franchisors and verified the mathematical accuracy and
logical consistency of the supporting schedules.
Based on our review of the application, we determined the 2016 Rate Adjustment Factor to be a 5.61%
increase to rates. We believe this Adjustment Factor is appropriate to compensate MSS for its projected
expenses. The Rate Adjustment Factor is defined in the rate -setting methodology as the Total
Contractor's Revenue Requirement for the coming year divided by the Gross Rate Revenues. We have
reviewed our findings with MSS and they are in agreement with our proposed rate adjustment.
The 5.61% Rate Adjustment Factor results primarily from: 1) increase in employee benefits in accordance
with the collective bargaining agreement over the last 3 years that was greater than the CPI adjustments
for the same period; 2) increase in general and administrative expenses for public outreach materials,
permitting costs, and hardware/software maintenance for truck and office systems; and, 3) a partial offset
by the decrease in fuel expense due to the volatility of prices when projecting fuel costs, and a decline in
disposal expense due to the change in the processing facility for organic materials.
The following table summarizes the components of the Rate Adjustment Factor.
Marin Franchisors Group
December 17, 2015
Page 3 of 7
Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Table 2: Rate Adjustment Factor Components
2016 Component Percentages
Wages 1.64%
Benefits (including workers comp) 3.71%
Fuel & Oil (2.99%)
Disposal (0.88%)
Depreciation and Interest 0.84%
Maintenance 1.42%
Other Operating Costs(l) 2.51%
Subtotal Operations 6.25%
Revenue Surplus net of Franchise Fees (0.64%)
Rate Adjustment Factor 5.61%
M Includes profit and general & administrative costs (e.g., public education,
customer service, etc.) .
This lower -than -applied -for adjustment is based on several adjustments to MSS' rate calculation (agreed
upon by MSS management) as described in Section IV of the report and reflected in Table 4 and
Attachment 2.
Summary of Significant Changes for 2016
2016 Rate Adjustment Components — 5.61%
Wages —1.64%
As shown in Table 2, the wages expense component contributed 1.64% to the overall recommended
5.61% Rate Adjustment Factor. The increase is primarily attributable to standard wage increases in
accordance with MSS' collective bargaining agreement (averaging approximately 3% on an annualized
basis).
Benefits — 3.71%
As shown in Table 2, the benefits expense component contributed 3.71% to the overall recommended
5.61% Rate Adjustment Factor. The increase is primarily a catch-up of actual benefits, which increased by
approximately 8.00% per year while rates were set with benefits limited to the average annual
Jl�
CONSULTANTS, LLC
" Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Marin Franchisors Group
December 17, 2015
Page 4 of 7
Employment Cost Index of approximately 2% during the past 2 index year adjustments. The adjustment
resets the base benefit expenses for 2016 and the following 2 years. It does not include a retroactive
adjustment for previous years.
Fuel and Oil — (2.99%)
As shown in Table 2, the fuel expense component contributed -2.99% to the overall recommended 5.61%
Rate Adjustment Factor. The decrease is attributable to a steady decline in fuel prices in 2015 (2015
projected price of $3.84 per gallon and revised 2015 projected price of $2.63 per gallon). Fuel prices are
extremely volatile causing significant fluctuations from year to year.
Disposal — (0.88%)
As shown in Table 2, the disposal expense contributed -0.88% to the overall recommended 5.61% Rate
Adjustment Factor. The decrease is attributed primarily to a reduced disposal cost for organic material
volumes going to Redwood Landfill instead of the Zamora processing facility.
Depreciation and Interest — 0.84%
As shown in Table 2, the depreciation expense component contributed 0.84% to the overall recommended
5.61% Rate Adjustment Factor. The increase is primarily due to additional depreciation for replacement
vehicles, building compliance and retrofit, and increased capital expenditures for equipment repairs and
maintenance. Additionally, MSS' interest rate is slightly higher than in prior years.
Maintenance — 1.42%
As shown in Table 2, the maintenance expense component contributed 1.42% to the overall
recommended 5.61% rate adjustment. Maintenance expenses include vehicle and equipment outside
repair costs, parts, tires, vehicle licenses, etc. Manufacturer maintenance guidelines on new vehicles
require more frequent and in-depth preventative services.
Other Operating Expenses — 2.51%
As shown in Table 2, the other operating costs component contributed 2.51% to the overall recommended
5.61% rate adjustment. The increase is primarily related to increased costs in public outreach,
hardware/software maintenance on the truck and office computer systems (trucks now have on -board
tablets to report issues), and annual permitting requirements at the facility.
Revenue — (0.64%1
As shown in Table 2, a revenue surplus contributed -0.64% of the overall recommended 5.61% Rate
Adjustment Factor.
CONSULTANTS LLC
Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Marin Franchisors Group
December 17, 2015
Page 5 of 7
Reserves for Future Diversion Programs
During 2012, the Franchisors and MSS agreed to share the net revenues from the processing of recyclable
materials collected from the Franchisors' customers, beginning with actual results in calendar year 2011.
It was agreed that the net revenues would be contributed to a reserve to fund one-time costs of future
diversion programs. As reflected in Table 3, the reserve amount decreased $120,074 to a net deficit of
$19,825. The decrease in the reserve is due to an increase in processing costs per ton ($201.30 in 2014
vs. $188.84 in 2013) from a combination of additional sorters to produce a cleaner product and
inflationary increases in other costs. Favorable commodity pricing per ton ($185.97 in 2014 vs. $177.54 in
2013) partially -offset the cost increases. MSS reported it will be performing a review of its operations in
2016.
Table 3: Reserve for Future Diversion Programs
Net Addition
Based on (Reduction)
Rate Year Financial Year to Reserve
2013
2014
2015
2016
Reserve Balance
2011
$ 232,707
2012
(85,153)
2013
(47,305)
2014
(120,074)
$ (19,825)
The next update to the reserve will be completed as part of the 2017 rate application process and will be
based upon 2015 calendar year results. Should the net Dositive value in the reserve exceed $250,000,
then the excess shall be used to offset one-time costs related to diversion programs approved by a
majority of the agencies comprising the Franchisors' Group. Should the net neizative value in the reserve
exceed $250,000, the City or the Contractor may request a review of the actual costs and revenues of
providing the service at which time the Franchisors Group and Contractor have agreed to meet and confer
to determine a reasonable remedy to the Contractor.
Comparison of Approved 2015 and Proposed 2016 Revenue Requirement
Table 4 provides a comparison of the approved 2015 revenue requirement to the proposed 2016 revenue
requirement necessary to reimburse MSS in accordance with the agreed-upon rate -setting methodology.
This comparison is between a modified index year (2015) and a cost -based detail year (2016) and include
the County area of RVSD-N in both years for comparison purposes. The results of the cost -based detail
year serve as a "base" for the future "index" years.
;�_MC0N_c,ULTANT_c,,LLQ
Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Marin Franchisors Group
December 17, 2015
Page 6 of 7
It is important to understand that there are several expense line items that are trued -up each year
regardless of the performance of a modified index review or cost -based detail review. Expenses that are
reviewed on an annual basis include disposal, fuel, depreciation, interest, workers' compensation (a
component of the benefits line) and JPA fees (a component of the other operating/G&A line). Those
expenses include adjustments for actual expenditures and third -party rate projections (e.g., disposal,
organics processing, insurance, JPA fees).
It should be noted that the revenue requirements for both years are projections and MSS is not
guaranteed the operating profit as shown in the table.
Table 4: Comparison of 2015 Approved Revenue Requirement to 2016 Proposed Revenue
Requirement
Expenses: Current MSS Operations
Wages
Benefits
Disposal Fees
Fuel & Oil
Maintenance Expense
Depreciation/Leases
Other Operating/G&A
Total Operating Expenses
Operating Profit
Interest Expense
Total Expenses for Current Operations
Revenue Requirement for Current Services
*Adjusted to include RVSD-N for comparison purposes.
2015 Approved
2016 Proposed
Percent
Rate Application*
Rate Application
Change
Change
$ 7,135,184
$ 7,529,000
$
393,816
5.52%
3,612,114
4,544,157
932,043
25.81%
3,912,984
3,716,437
(196,547)
-5.01%
1,164,033
397,602
(766,431)
-65.83%
1,475,490
1,828,346
352,856
23.92%
2,155,435
2,261,192
105,757
4.92%
3,168,929
3,636,462
467,533
14.76%
22,624,169
23,913,196
1,289,027
5.70%
2,374,913
2,510,224
135,311
5.71%
280,946
379,828
98,882
35.21%
$ 25,280,028
$ 26,803,248
$
1,523,220
6.25%
$ 25,280,028
$ 26,803,248
$
1,523,220
6.25%
The variances from prior year are summarized as follows:
1. Wages —The prior year included adjustments for MSS' F2E and Operations Improvement plan that
resulted in lower 2015 approved wages. The actual increase in wages is in line with CPI when
these adjustments are added back for comparison;
2. Benefits — Increase resulted from the actual benefit costs increasing at a rate higher than CPI. The
actual average annual increase for the last 3 years was approximately 8%;
;�_CONSULTANTS LLQ
Managing Tomorrow's Resources Today
Marin Franchisors Group
December 17, 2015
Page 7 of 7
3. Disposal Fees —The decrease is due to a change in processing sites for organics material. In 2015,
MSS began delivering to Redwood Landfill at a reduced overall tonnage rate;
4. Fuel & Oil —The decrease is due to a steady decline in fuel prices in 2015 and offsetting true -up
adjustments for 2014 and 2015 index years;
5. Maintenance — The increase resulted primarily from the increase in parts and outside repairs for
the trucks due to technological changes, which required specialized equipment. Costs have been
increasing at a rate higher than inflation over the last three years;
6. Depreciation —The increase is primarily due to additional depreciation for replacement vehicles,
as well as building maintenance and retrofit costs;
7. Other Operating / G&A — The increase is primarily related to increased costs in public outreach,
hardware/software maintenance on the truck and office computer systems (trucks now have on-
board tablets to report issues), and on-going permitting issues at the facility; and,
8. Interest Expense — The increase resulted primarily from the financing of additional capital for
replacement vehicles and an increase of approximately 1% in interest rates for the 2015
borrowings.
We would like to express our appreciation to MSS' management and staff for their assistance. In addition,
we express our appreciation to each of you for your assistance and guidance during the course of the
review. Should you have any questions, please call Marva Sheehan at (925) 977-6961; or Scott Holt at
(925) 977-6967.
Sincerely,
HF&H CONSULTANTS, LLC
Marva M. Sheehan, CPA Scott Holt
Vice President Senior Associate
p
cc: Mr. Joe Garbarino Jr., Marin Sanitary Service
Ms. Patricia Garbarino, Marin Sanitary Service
Mr. Neil Roscoe, Marin Sanitary Service
HF&H Client Files
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Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Table of Contents
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I. BACKGROUND..........................................................................................
Description of Current Services................................................................................. 1
SECTION II. RATE REVIEW APPROACH.................................................................... 2
Rate Adjustment Methodology................................................................................... 2
HF&H Scope of Review............................................................................................. 2
Limitations.................................................................................................................. 3
SECTION III. MSS' PROJECTION METHODOLOGY (BASE YEAR)...........................4
CurrentOperations....................................................................................................4
Profit.......................................................................................................................... 5
MSS' Calculated Rate Adjustment Factor.................................................................. 5
SECTION IV. PROPOSED ADJUSTMENT................................................................... 6
Adjustments to 2016 Projected Expenses for Current Operations ............................. 7
Adjustments to Projected Revenue at Current Rates ................................................. 8
Adjustments to Net Recyclable Revenue Reserve ..................................................... 8
SECTION V. RATE ADJUSTMENT.............................................................................10
Rate Adjustment Factor........................................................................................... 10
Survey of Comparable Rates................................................................................... 11
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1— Marin Sanitary Service Rate Application Summary
Attachment 2 —Adjusted Rate Application Summary
Attachment 3 — Rate Survey
Attachment 4 — Chart of Residential 32 -Gallon Rates
Attachment 5 — Chart of Commercial 3 Cubic Yard Rates
HF&H Consultants, LLC i December 17, 2015
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Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section I. Background
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
SECTION I. BACKGROUND
Description of Current Services
Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) provides franchised refuse, recyclable materials, and organics collection and
processing services to the residents and businesses of the cities of San Rafael and Larkspur, the Town of
Ross, the County of Marin (County), and the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District (LGVSD) collectively
referred to as "Franchisors". In 2014, unincorporated areas of the County known as the Ross Valley
Sanitary District - North (RVSD-N) were added as a member of the Franchisors. In addition, MSS and its
non -franchised related entities (Marin Resource and Recovery (MRR), the Marin Resource Recovery
Center (MRRC), and Northern Recycling Compost — Zamora (Zamora)), provide solid waste, recyclable
materials, and organics collection and processing services to the residents and businesses of San Anselmo
and Fairfax, as well as the Franchisors' jurisdictions. MSS also provides non -franchised debris box, street
sweeping, and document shredding services to residents and businesses throughout the county that
contract for their services.
MSS delivers refuse collected from waste generators within the Franchisors' service area to the MSS
transfer station and then transports it to the Redwood Landfill (Redwood), which is an unrelated party.
MSS delivers recyclable materials to the non -franchised MRR, where materials are processed and
marketed. MSS delivers recyclable -rich loads of refuse (typically commercial) and separated organics
loads (collected from residents) along with public self -haul loads to the non -franchised MRRC where
recyclable materials are extracted from the waste stream, processed, and marketed. The MRRC delivers
residual waste (the materials remaining after the recyclable materials are extracted) to the MSS transfer
station. This residual waste is transferred to Keller Canyon Landfill.
Franchised organics are transported by a third party to a composting facility. This material has historically
been transferred to Zamora; however, in 2015, MSS started transferring organics exclusively to Redwood
for composting at favorable rates to the Franchisors.
In 2011, MSS expanded its residential yard waste service to include food scraps with the green trimmings.
State regulations mandate that this organic material (food scraps and yard waste) is collected every week;
therefore, MSS expanded its organics service from bi-weekly to weekly collection from residential
customers for the all of the Franchisors. The organic material is delivered to Redwood for composting.
In 2012, HF&H assisted the Franchisors in the negotiation of the revised Contractor's Revenue
Requirement and Rate Adjustment methodology. Significant revisions included documentation of:
1) procedures that had been agreed to by MSS and the Franchisors over the years but not documented;
2) related -party fees and future adjustment mechanisms; 3) additional reporting to be submitted with the
rate adjustment applications; and, 4) procedures to develop a reserve for diversion programs by sharing
in MRR's net revenues (net recyclables processing revenues).
In early 2014, MSS began collection and processing for the Food -to -Energy program (F2E) approved by
the Franchisors in 2013. Food waste is collected using a specialized vehicle and processed on a dedicated
sort line at MSS and delivered to the Central Marin Sanitary Agency (CMSA) for conversion to energy. MSS
is operating the program 6 days per week on one route and has about 120 participants.
HF&H Consultants, LLC 1 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section II. Rate Review Approach
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
SECTION II. RATE REVIEW APPROACH
Rate Adjustment Methodology
The Rate Adjustment Methodology was developed by the Franchisors in cooperation with MSS and
approved by the Franchisors Group in 2001 and revised in 2012 with approval by the individual
jurisdictions.
This revised method was used to determine 2016 recommended rates utilizing audited 2014 and actual
2015 year-to-date financial results that are adjusted by changes in certain indices (e.g., CPI, employment
cost index and the transportation index). Also, new projections of certain costs (e.g., disposal expense,
fuel expense, workers' compensation expense, depreciation, interest expense, and fees imposed by the
Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers Authority (JPA)) and revenues
(e.g., collection rate revenues) are made to determine the 2016 rates. Section III describes the
methodology in more detail and findings from the application of the methodology to MSS' Application.
H F&H Scope of Review
The Franchisors engaged HF&H in August 2015 to perform a review of the Application in accordance with
the Rate Adjustment Methodology (i.e., "agreed upon procedures"). The scope of this review is described
in our engagement letter dated July 21, 2015. These procedures included the following activities:
• Reviewing MSS' Application to determine completeness, mathematical accuracy, and
reasonableness and logical consistency of the assumptions supporting the projected revenues and
expenses;
• Reviewing MSS' calculation of rate year 2016 indexed expenses by comparing them to the
calculated expenses for 2015 (which were established in HF&H's prior report) and the calculated
changes to the applicable indices;
• Reviewing other projected expenses including depreciation, fuel, interest, disposal and
recyclables/organics processing expenses by evaluating the reasonableness of MSS' estimates for
these expenses based on historical trends and MSS management's plans;
• Reviewing projected revenues to ensure that they are consistent with past trends and anticipated
conditions;
• Reviewing MSS' calculation of projected profit for compliance with the procedures and
mathematical accuracy;
• Reviewing the appropriateness of MSS' allocation of revenues and expenses among the
Franchisors and other service areas;
• Reviewing MSS' costs and cost savings projections and anticipated rate impact for its Operation
Improvement Plan;
• Reviewing our recalculation of MSS' projected results of operations and our recommendations
with MSS and the Franchisors' representatives;
• Compiling a survey of comparable rates in effect in other municipalities in Marin County, as well
as neighboring jurisdictions in other counties; and,
HF&H Consultants, LLC 2 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section II. Rate Review Approach
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
• Preparing a written report that documents our findings and recommendations.
Limitations
Our review was substantially different in scope than an examination in accordance with Generally
Accepted Auditing Standards, the objective of which is the expression of an opinion regarding the financial
statements taken as a whole. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. However, Chiao Smith
McMullin + McGuire, An Accountancy Corporation, has issued an unqualified opinion of MSS' 2014
financial statements. The unqualified opinion denotes that the financial statements of MSS were fairly
and appropriately presented.
Our conclusions are based in part on the review of MSS' projections of its financial results of operations.
Actual results of operations will usually differ from projections because events and circumstances
frequently do not occur as expected and the difference may be significant.
HF&H Consultants, LLC 3 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section III. MSS' Projection Methodology (Base Year)
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
SECTION III. MSS' PROJECTION METHODOLOGY (BASE YEAR)
Current Operations
In projecting 2016 costs, MSS included the direct costs for the Franchisors' Group garbage collection, the
transfer station, and recycling collection. Shop costs and administrative costs are allocated among the
agencies served by MSS using truck route hours and an average of projected revenue, annual customer
counts and department's (MSS, MRR, MRRC, Transfer Station, etc.) respective percentage of wages.
Management salaries are allocated to departments based upon actual time spent by management related
to that department.
Expenses
MSS projected its 2016 expenses (less non -allowable costs, such as donations, fines for penalties, certain
attorney's fees, goodwill, etc.) for each expense category by:
• Basing wage, salary, and benefit expenses on negotiated labor agreements for represented
employees as well as reasonable wage and salary adjustments for non -represented employees.
Workers compensation expenses were projected using the wages established above times the
applicable premium rates for 2016;
• Forecasting projected 2016 disposal expense using projected tons multiplied by the 2016 disposal
rate per ton and including adjustments to: 1) 2014 actual disposal expenses, and; 2) updated 2015
disposal expenses;
• Forecasting projected 2016 fuel expense based on 2015 actual annualized costs to date and
gallons of fuel and including adjustments to 2014 actual fuel expense and estimated 2015 fuel
expense based on actual 2014 average price and year-to-date 2015 average price;
• Forecasting projected 2016 equipment and vehicle maintenance expense was based on historical
costs adjusted for any changes in the number of equipment and vehicles to be maintained and
the cost of such maintenance,
• Forecasting projected 2016 depreciation and lease expense based on MSS' actual depreciation
expense and anticipated future capital purchases;
• Forecasting projected 2016 JPA fees based on the tons collected for the Franchisors' Group by
MSS for the period determined and rate established by the JPA;
• Forecasting projected 2016 other operating/G&A based on historical costs; and,
• Forecasting projected 2016 interest expense based on MSS' actual interest from its loan
amortization schedules for actual and projected asset purchases for the remainder of 2015 and
2016.
Route Revenues
In order to mitigate significant differences in the forecasted and actual revenues received, a three-year
trend in subscription levels is factored into the necessary rate adjustment. Actual revenue received
through June 2015 and projections for the remainder of the year were multiplied by the average
percentage surplus or shortfall of rate revenue for the three most recently completed rate years. MSS
HF&H Consultants, LLC 4 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section III. MSS' Projection Methodology (Base Year)
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
calculated the 3 year average achievement percentage of 100.14%, meaning actual revenue received has
averaged 100.14% of what was projected over the past 3 years.
Operation Improvement Plan
In 2012, MSS contracted with R. J. Proto Consulting Group, Inc. (Proto) to assess MSS' collection operation
and inform management of improvements and changes necessary for the company's success. MSS
management reviewed the results of the report and has recruited six of the seven personnel additions
recommended by Proto.
The personnel additions were expected to allow collection operations and general management to
operate more effectively, resulting in planned route reductions over the next few years. Four routes have
been eliminated since the implementation of the plan. MSS is continuing to work with Proto in evaluating
the operations to attain additional labor efficiencies.
Commercial Food to Energy (F2E) Program
MSS provides a commercial food waste collection program in conjunction with CMSA. Currently, there is
1 full route and the service is expected to be expanded to 2 routes in 2016. One thousand thirty-five
(1,035) tons were collected in 2014 and 1,226 tons are projected for 2015.
Profit
MSS calculated its 2016 profit by applying the agreed-upon 90.5% pre-tax operating ratio to its 2016
total projected expenses that are eligible for profit.
MSS' Calculated Rate Adjustment Factor
Initially, MSS calculated the 2016 Rate Adjustment increase to be 11.09%. The Rate Adjustment Factor
equals the Total Contractor's Revenue Requirement for the coming Rate Year divided by the Gross Rate
Revenues. Gross Rate Revenues mean the statements of charges for services rendered by Contractor, to
owners or occupants of property, including residential and commercial premises, for the collection of
materials pursuant to the Agreement, net of a reasonable allowance for uncollectible accounts, and
adjusted for the calculated three-year average revenue achievement.
HF&H Consultants, LLC 5 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section IV. Proposed Adjustment
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
SECTION IV. PROPOSED ADJUSTMENT
This section provides a summary of the HF&H recommended adjusted revenue requirement. HF&H's
recommended projections for MSS' operations are shown in Table 5 below and our recommended
adjustments to MSS' projections are discussed in more detail following the table.
Table 5: Summary of Adjustments
Recommended HF&H Adjusted
MSS Application Adjustments Application
12 Revenue Requirement for Current Services $ 27,826,034 $
Proiected Revenue (at current rates)
13 Route Revenues
14 Less: Franchise Fees
15 Less: Street Sweeping
16 Less: Refuse Vehicle Impact Fee
17 Add: Non -Regulated Revenues
18 Net Revenues (at current rates)
19 Total Surplus/ (Deficit) (Line 18 - Line 12)
20 Rate Adjustment Factor (-Line 19 _ Line 18)
28,943,158
(2,884,033)
(72,000)
(938,457)
25,048,668
$ (2,777,366) $
11.09%
(200,506) $ 7,529,000
(25,074)
Expenses: Current MSS Operations
(280,307)
1
Wages
$ 7,729,506 $
2
Benefits
4,569,231
3
Disposal Fees
3,996,744
4
Fuel & Oil
428,682
5
Maintenance Expense
1,828,346
6
Depreciation/Leases
2,458,005
7
Other Operating/G&A
3,792,972
8
Total Operating Expenses
24,803,486
9
Operating Profit
2,603,681
10
Interest Expense
418,867
11
Total Expenses for Current Operations
27,826,034
12 Revenue Requirement for Current Services $ 27,826,034 $
Proiected Revenue (at current rates)
13 Route Revenues
14 Less: Franchise Fees
15 Less: Street Sweeping
16 Less: Refuse Vehicle Impact Fee
17 Add: Non -Regulated Revenues
18 Net Revenues (at current rates)
19 Total Surplus/ (Deficit) (Line 18 - Line 12)
20 Rate Adjustment Factor (-Line 19 _ Line 18)
28,943,158
(2,884,033)
(72,000)
(938,457)
25,048,668
$ (2,777,366) $
11.09%
(200,506) $ 7,529,000
(25,074)
4,544,157
(280,307)
3,716,437
(31,080)
397,602
(1,022,786) $
1,828,346
(196,813)
2,261,192
(156,510)
3,636,462
(890,290)
23,913,196
(93,457)
2,510,224
(39,039)
379,828
(1,022,786)
26,803,248
(1,022,786) $
26,803,248
8,082 28,951,240
(799) (2,884,832)
- (72,000)
- (938,457)
322,712 322,712
329,995 25,378,663
1,352,781 $ (1,424,585)
5.61
HF&H Consultants, LLC 6 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section IV. Proposed Adjustment
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
Adjustments to 2016 Projected Expenses for Current Operations
Wages
HF&H recommends reducing wages expense by $200,506 due to the following (Table 5, Line 1):
Reduce wages by $57,814 due to changing the wage base used to project 2016 wages. MSS
compiled actual year-to-date wages through June 2015, annualized the total and applied a CPI
escalator to project 2016 wages. Past practice utilized the most recently audited annual wages,
2014 for this review, and applied CPI escalators to estimate 2016 wages. The recommended
adjustment is the difference between the two methods.
Reduce wages by $142,692 due to a delay in hiring for the Accounting / Controller position for the
Operation Improvement Plan. The position was expected to be filled in 2015. However, since it
was not, wages for 2015 have been removed. MSS has been unable to locate a suitable candidate
to fill the position, but continues to search and expects to fill it in 2016. If the position is filled,
MSS may request an adjustment in the next index year review to add the cost as an allowable
expense and the expense would become part of the 2017 Rate Adjustment discussions.
Benefits
HF&H recommends reducing workers compensation by $25,074 (Table 5, Line 2) corresponding to the
recommended reduction to wages.
Disposal Fees
HF&H recommends reducing MSS' projected disposal fees by $280,307 due to the following (Table 5, Line
3):
Reduced disposal by $210,946 due to MSS changing processing facilities for franchised organic
volumes. In the beginning of May 2015, MSS began transporting organics exclusively to Redwood
rather than the previous destination at Zamora. The decrease in cost is attributed to lower
transportation expenses, which resulted in an approximately $8.50 per ton overall lower
processing rate for 2015 and 2016 volumes delivered to Redwood.
• Reduced disposal by $50,464 to disallow MSS' profit for 2014, 2015, and 2016 on the cities of San
Rafael and Larkspur's coupon program for residents to use the MRRC for household disposal
needs. The coupon rate charged to the Franchisors included the profit at the MRRC.
• Reduced disposal by $18,897 to adjust the City of San Rafael's direct haul rate at the MRRC for
2014, 2015, and 2016 to the existing approved Franchisors' rates. The MRRC was charging the
gate rate on direct hauls instead of the approved rates set by the rate methodology.
Fuel & Oil
HF&H recommends reducing MSS' projected Fuel & Oil costs by $31,080 (Table 5, Line 4) due to an
updated projected average per -gallon fuel price. MSS' application projected fuel cost based on the actual
year-to-date average per -gallon rate for purchases through July 2015. An updated price trend based on
actual invoices through September 2015 resulted in a decrease of $0.056 per gallon for rate years 2015
and 2016.
HF&H Consultants, LLC 7 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section IV. Proposed Adjustment
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
Maintenance Expense
HF&H reviewed and does not recommend an adjustment to MSS' projected 2016 Maintenance Expense
(Table 5, Line 5).
Depreciation/ Leases
HF&H recommends reducing depreciation by $196,813 (Table 5, Line 6) resulting from a review of MSS'
5 -year capital expenditure plan and delaying planned 2016 expenditures (primarily the delay of significant
transfer station repairs). MSS is currently analyzing collection/processing alternatives.
Other Operating Expense
HF&H recommends reducing other operating expense by $156,510 (Table 5, Line 7) resulting from
removing expenditures related to future capital projects, staff development, and other expenses not
directly related to the Franchisors.
Operating Profit
HF&H recommends reducing MSS' projected operating profit by $93,457 (Table 5, Line 9), resulting from
the decreases in operating costs described above.
Interest Expense
HF&H recommends reducing MSS' projected interest expense by $39,039 (Table 5, Line 10),
corresponding to the reduction of asset purchases for 2016.
Adjustments to Projected Revenue at Current Rates
HF&H recommends increasing revenue net of franchise fees by $329,995 due to the following (Table 5,
Line 18):
• Increased revenue net of fees by $7,283 to correct the 3 -year trend on actual revenue to calculate
the average forecast achievement to gross rate revenue. MSS' application included a typo that
nominally resulted in a lower three-year trend.
• Increased revenue by $322,712 for expected 2015 and 2016 non-regulated revenues from the
public, MRR, and MRRC their proportionate share of transfer station assets and operating
expenses.
Adjustments to Net Recyclable Revenue Reserve
During 2012, the Franchisors and MSS agreed to share the net revenues from the processing of recyclable
materials collected from the Franchisors' customers, beginning with actual results in calendar year 2011.
It was agreed that the net revenues would be contributed to a reserve to fund one-time costs of future
diversion programs. As reflected in Table 3, the reserve amount decreased $120,074 to net deficit of
$19,825. The decrease in the reserve is due to an increase in processing costs per ton ($201.30 in 2014
vs. $188.84 in 2013) from a combination of additional sorters to produce a cleaner product and
inflationary increases in other costs. Favorable commodity pricing per ton ($185.97 in 2014 vs. $177.54
in 2013) partially offset the cost increases. MSS reported it will be performing a review of its operations
in 2016.
HF&H Consultants, LLC 8 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section IV. Proposed Adjustment
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
Table 6: Reserve for Future Diversion Programs
Net Addition
Based on (Reduction)
Rate Year Financial Year to Reserve
2013
2014
2015
2016
Reserve Balance
2011
$ 232,707
2012
(85,153)
2013
(47,305)
2014
(120,074)
$ (19,825)
The next update to the reserve will be completed as part of the 2017 rate application process and will be
based upon 2015 calendar year results. Should the net positive value in the reserve exceed $250,000,
then the excess shall be used to offset one-time costs related to diversion programs approved by a
majority of the agencies comprising the Franchisors' Group. Should the net negative value in the reserve
exceed $250,000, the City or the Contractor may request a review of the actual costs and revenues of
providing the service at which time the Franchisors Group and Contractor have agreed to meet and confer
to determine a reasonable remedy to the Contractor.
HF&H Consultants, LLC 9 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section V. Rate Adjustment
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
SECTION V. RATE ADJUSTMENT
Rate Adjustment Factor
Based on a revenue requirement of $26,803,248 (Table 5, Line 12) and projected revenues of $25,378,663
(Table 5, Line 18) for the calendar year 2016, resulting from our recommended adjustments to MSS'
application, a 5.61% Rate Adjustment Factor has been calculated, effective January 1, 2016.
This rate increase of 5.61%, results primarily from:
• An overall net increase of 6.25% in operating costs for current services, primarily from:
o An increase in wages, benefits expense, and other operating costs.
• partially offset by:
o A decrease in costs of fuel to a steady decline in fuel prices.
o A decrease in disposal cost due to changing processing sites for organics.
The following table shows the components of the rate increase:
Table 7: Rate Adjustment Factor Components
2016 Component Percentages
Wages 1.64%
Benefits (including workers comp) 3.71%
Fuel & Oil (2.99%)
Disposal (0.88%)
Depreciation and Interest 0.84%
Maintenance 1.42%
Other Operating Costs(1) 2.51%
Subtotal Operations 6.25%
Revenue Surplus net of Franchise Fees (0.64%)
Rate Adjustment Factor 5.61%
(l) Includes profit and general & administrative costs (e.g., public education,
customer service, etc.) .
HF&H Consultants, LLC 10 December 17, 2015
Franchisors of Marin Sanitary Service Section V. Rate Adjustment
Review of Marin Sanitary Service's 2016 Rate Application
Survey of Comparable Rates
Attachment 3 shows the results of HF&H's survey of rates as of October 2015 for jurisdictions located
throughout the Bay Area. For the purpose of comparing the Franchisors' rates to other jurisdictions, we
have applied the recommended 5.61% Rate Adjustment Factor to the current Franchisors rates.
The Franchisors' residential rates for a 32 -gallon container (the most frequent residential service level)
range from $29.59 (LGVSD) to $39.50 (RVSD-N, Sleepy Hollow). The survey shows the Franchisors'
average residential rate for 32 -gallon service ($35.32 with RVSD-N included and $34.13 without) is in the
same range when compared to other Marin County jurisdictions. Of the 8 Marin County jurisdictions, 4
of the jurisdictions' 32 -gallon container rates are higher than the Franchisors' average and 4 jurisdictions
are lower. Attachment 4 graphically compares the Franchisors' residential rates for a 32 -gallon container
to one another as well as to the average of Marin County rates for similar service.
The Franchisors' commercial rates for a 3 cubic yard bin serviced 1 time per week (the most requested
commercial service level) range from $415.66 (Town of Ross) to $622.33 (RVSD-N). The average rate for
the Franchisors is $490.25, with RVSD-N and $446.02 without. The average rate is in the upper range
compared to the other three Marin County jurisdictions that have this level of service. One jurisdiction
has a higher rate and two jurisdictions have lower rates. Attachment 5 compares the Franchisors'
commercial rates for a 3 cubic yard bin serviced one time per week to the average Marin County rate and
all other jurisdictions' average rate for similar service levels.
As part of the 2014 consolidation of multiple agreements between the County and MSS, the County has
adopted a plan to unify rates for similar services throughout the MSS' County service area. This is a 5 -
year plan and the final 2016 rates are yet to be determined. For presentation in Attachments 4 and 5, we
have shown the average rates of MSS' County areas.
While the recommended rates compare favorably to those surveyed, we caution the Franchisors that this
survey is presented as an indication of the reasonableness of the resulting rates. They should not draw
conclusions from this information because rate comparisons are intrinsically difficult and often
misleading. This difficulty results from differences in issues such as:
1. The services provided;
2. The terrain in which the service is performed;
3. Disposal costs;
4. Rate structures; and,
5. Governmental fees (e.g., franchise fees, vehicle impact fees, etc.).
HF&H Consultants, LLC 11 December 17, 2015
This page intentionally left blank
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Attachment 3
Bay Area Rate Survey
Unincor :West Contra Costa
Contra Costa
$
25.50
Res. Single -Family
$ 59.42
$ 88.50
Commercial
204.28/ $
513.25
$ 457.34
$ 1,243.53
Town of Fairfax
Marin
$
26.84
$ 32.18
1YD Bin
1YD Bin
3YD Bin
3YD Bin
Jurisdiction
County
$ 443.55
20 Gallon
30-35Gal.
60-64Gal.
90-96Gal.
lx/week
3x/week
1x/week
3x/week
ICity of Alameda
Alameda
$
30.65
$ 38.68
$ 63.56
$ 88.77
�$ 147.36
$ 450.90
$ 442.08
$ 1,352.71
$ 79.79
Alameda
$
36.72
$ 41.13
$ 71.08
$ 101.02
2S 163.87
$ 491.61
$ 491.61
$ 1,474.83
ICitvofAlbany
City of Berkeley (District 1 & 2)
Alameda
$
23.79
$ 38.05
$ 76.05
$ 114.03
�$ 151.42
$ 426.65
$ 419.05
$ 1,244.70
City of Berkeley (District 3)8
Alameda
$
24.82
$ 39.62
$ 79.18
$ 118.75
$ 151.42
$ 426.65
$ 419.05
$ 1,244.70
ICityofDublin
Alameda
Marin
N/A
$ 22.06
$ 40.52
$ 58.98
$ 107.03
$ 374.36
$ 321.09
$ 1,016.53
ICity of Emeryville
Alameda
$
10.93
$ 18.10
$ 36.19
$ 54.29
$ 107.78
$ 323.34
$ 323.34
$ 970.02
ICity of Fremont
Alameda
$
29.89
$ 30.51
$ 33.39
$ 48.93
$ 86.95
$ 250.10
$ 195.45
$ 575.58
ICity of Livermore
Alameda
$
23.61
$ 32.96
$ 57.54
$ 90.41
$ 116.72
$ 364.16
$ 350.16
$ 1,115.62
ICity of Newark
Alameda
$
26.01
$ 28.91
$ 51.20
$ 73.47
�$ 117.14
$ 365.48
$ 309.91
$ 845.16
of Oakland
Alameda
,$
32.10
$ 36.82
$ 67.19
$ 102.43
$ 194.10
�$ 582.30
$ 462.27`$
1,386.81
IS)tv
City of Piedmonts
Alameda
$
51.39
$ 53.99
$ 63.42
$ 74.71
$ 169.43
$ 477.82
NA
NA
Citv of Pleasanton 3
Alameda
LasGallinas- County
N/A
$ 33.80
N/A
$ 41.43
$ 161.96
$ 423.86
$ 462.52
$ 1,248.22
ICity ofSan Leandro
Alameda
$
22.84
$ 28.46
$ 47.37
$ 66.26
$ 147.36
$ 450.90
$ 442.08
$ 1,352.71
ICity of Union City
Alameda
$
26.08
$ 32.60
$ 65.25
$ 97.85
$ 135.44
$ 374.10
$ 354.94
$ 967.33
Castro Valley Sanitary District
Alameda
$
24.54
$ 38.07
$ 66.10
$ 94.17
$ 270.29
$ 810.98
$ 719.20
$ 2,015.49
Oro Loma Sanitary District(Ll)6
Alameda
$
8.32
$ 16.60
$ 33.24
$ 49.83
$ 13036
$ 303.99
$ 317.93
$ 839.64
Oro Loma Sanitary District (L2)6
Alameda
$
8.32
$ 16.60
$ 33.24
$ 49.83
�$ 130.36
$ 303.99
$ 317.93
$ 839.64
Oro Loma Sanitary District (L3)10
Alameda
S
9.60
S 19.25
$ 38.45
$ 57.70
$ 150.80
,$ 351.71
$ 367.89
> 970.62
City of Richmond
Contra Costa
$
26.44
$ 32.11
$ 61.28
$ 91.26
$ 21435
$ 541.77
$ 485.99
$ 1,327.74
City of San Pablo
Contra Costa
$
23.00
$ 27.94
$ 54.22
$ 81.26
�S 213.32
$ 537.03
$ 489.18
$ 1,335.07
City of EI Cerrit04,5
Contra Costa
5
31.50
$ 42.08
$ 84.43
N/A
�$ 280.37
$ 841.11
N/A
N/A
City of Hercules
Contra Costa
$
28.67
$ 33.61
$ 59.25
$ 85.64
$ 242.45
$ 607.04
$ 550.71
$ 1,497.48
Citv of Pinole
Contra Costa
S
27.17
S 32.12
S 57.14
S 82.91
S 240.58
S 608.08
S 555.19
S 1.519.06
Unincor :West Contra Costa
Contra Costa
$
25.50
$ 31.01
$ 59.42
$ 88.50
$
204.28/ $
513.25
$ 457.34
$ 1,243.53
Town of Fairfax
Marin
$
26.84
$ 32.18
$ 64.36
$ 96.54
$
189.20
$
448.10
$ 443.55
$ 1161.00
RVSD-N Oak Manor
Marin
$
23.79
$ 38.25
$ 77.30
$ 117.02
$
207.41
$
622.33
$ 622.33
$ 1,866.97
RVSD-N (Sleepy Hollow
Marin
$
24.56
$ 39.50
$ 79.79
$ 120.80
$
207.41
$
622.33
$ 622.33
$ 1866.97
Town of San Ansel mo 4
Marin
$
26.51
$ 34.64
$ 69.34
$ 104.01
18.63
N/A
$ 48.83
N/A
$ 568.55
$ 1,705.76
City of Belvedere6'7
Marin
$
37.42
$ 46.25
$ 78.47
$ 110.69
$
205.43
$
567.46
N/A
N/A
City of Nova t04
Marin
$
11.93
$ 19.08
$ 38.13
$ 57.22
N/A
N/A
$ 248.56
$ 616.74
City ofSausalito5'7
Marin
N/A
$ 36.90
$ 73.80
$ 110.74
$
151.79
$
455.37
N/A
N/A
Town of Tiburon 5'7
Marin
$
34.59
$ 39.02
$ 71.05
$ 102.54
$
185.67
$
506.76
N/A
N/A
Town of Corte Madera5
Marin
$
27.61
$ 32.47
$ 65.11
$ 97.75
$
151.87
$
409.79
N/A
N/A
City of Mill Valle 5'7
Marin
$
37.73
$ 41.61
$ 69.47
$ 97.28
$
156.42
$
426.21
N/A
N/A
City of San Rafael
Marin
$
28.77
$ 33.85
$ 67.71
$ 101.55
N/A
N/A
$ 418.16
$ 1,186.94
LasGallinas- County
Marin
$
25.16
$ 29.59
$ 59.18
$ 88.78
$
211.83
$
636.07
$ 428.63
$ 1,196.35
City of Larkspur'
Marin
$
31.61
$ 37.19
$ 74.37
$ 111.56
$
236.08
$
708.03
$ 474.13
$ 1,243.20
Town of Rosso
Marin
$
27.51
$ 32.37
$ 64.74
$ 97.11
N/A
N/A
$ 415.66
$ 1,246.84
County (RVSD-S)
Marin
$
21.84
$ 36.16
$ 75.23
$ 117.33
$
302.36
$
766.57
$ 467.61
$ 1,227.92
County - Marin Franchisors' Group4
Marin
$
21.53
$ 35.65
$ 74.20
$ 115.72
N/A
N/A
$ 471.95
$ 1,232.38
CityofCampbel 11
SantaClara
$
19.00
$ 24.79
$ 49.58
$ 74.37
$
123.93
$
375.33
$ 247.86
$ 750.66
ICity ofCupertino'
Santa Clara
N/A
$ 23.40
$ 46.81
$ 70.21
$
136.49
�$
409.51
$ 218.40
$ 655.19
City of Los Altos
Santa Clara
$
29.25
$ 31.50
$ 63.00
$ 94.50
$
123.59
$
370.79
$ 370.78
$ 1,112.38
CityofMonte Serenol
SantaClara
$
22.06
$ 28.77
$ 57.54
$ 86.30
$
169.24
$
512.63
$ 338.48
$ 1,025.26
CitvofMountain View10
SantaClara
$
18.20
$ 26.60
$ 53.20
$ 79.80
122.15
�S
366.05
$ 345.55
5 996.15
ICIty Of Pa l O Alto
Sa nta Clara
$
24.30
5 43.75
S 87.51
$ 131.26
�$
$
170.04
$
523.20
$ 416.38
$ 1,322.17
City of San Jose 2(11)
SantaClara
N/A
$ 32.07
$ 64.14
$ 96.21
�$ 166.41
$ 476.53
$ 232.39
$ 664.68
CityofSantaClara5pnta
c(ara
$
18.93
$ 25.06
5 36.9
5 48.80
7A.40
ss 22111
213.97
S 607.30
CityofSunnyvaIe
5antaClarh
$ 66.22
N/A
$ 36.94
$ 44.1
$ 51.30
�$
$ 163.03
j` 454.94
390.43
$ 1,134.45
CitvofSaratogal
SantaClara
$
20.42
$ 26.63
$ 53.26
$ 79.89
$ 175.06
$ 530.50
$ 350.13
$ 1,061.01
Town of Los Altos Hills
Santa Clara
$
27.95
$ 38.97
$ 77.96
$ 116.92
$ 98.13
$ 206.66
$ 153.56
5 359.07
Town of Los Gatos'
Santa Clara
$
18.63
$ 24.41
$ 48.83
$ 73.24
$ 141.92
$ 429.95
$ 283.85
$ 859.90
SS cu yd containers not available. reflected here are for 1.5 cu. yds.
2 City has wet/dry commercial collection- rates shown are for wet commercial materials
3 Largest residential can is 45 gallon
4 Smallest Commercial Bin is 2 yd.
SLargest commercial bin is 2 yards.
6 OLSD L2 district doesn't provide recycling services to residents. Recycling are included in rate for LS & L2.
7 Rate fort, 2, & 3 30 gallon cans in lieu of 60 and 90 gallon cans.
8 Berkeley's District 3 pays a fire surcharge on residential .
9 One cubic ya rd bin no longer offerred to new customers.
101 ncludes bin rental fee
11 City of San Jose does not offer 20 gallon cart
Marin Franchisors' Average
$
25.60
$ 35.32
$ 71.56
$ 108.73
$ 233.02
$ 671.06
1 $ 490.101
$ 1383.45
Marin County Average
$
28.95
$ 35.27
$ 66.22
1 $ 97.101
$ 173.401
$ 468.95
1 $ 420.22
1 $ 1,161.17
All CityAvera ge
$
25.17
$ 32.55
$ 60.47
1 $ 87.49 1
$ 168.23 1
$ 473.35
1 $ 399.961
$ 1,144.06
Marin Fra rich i s ors' Avera gew o RVSD-N
$
26.07
$ 34.13 1
$ 69.24
$ 105.34 1
$ 250.09 1
$ 703.56
1 $ 446.02
1 $ 1222.27
SS cu yd containers not available. reflected here are for 1.5 cu. yds.
2 City has wet/dry commercial collection- rates shown are for wet commercial materials
3 Largest residential can is 45 gallon
4 Smallest Commercial Bin is 2 yd.
SLargest commercial bin is 2 yards.
6 OLSD L2 district doesn't provide recycling services to residents. Recycling are included in rate for LS & L2.
7 Rate fort, 2, & 3 30 gallon cans in lieu of 60 and 90 gallon cans.
8 Berkeley's District 3 pays a fire surcharge on residential .
9 One cubic ya rd bin no longer offerred to new customers.
101 ncludes bin rental fee
11 City of San Jose does not offer 20 gallon cart
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Marin Sanitary Service
1050 Andersen Drive, San Rafael CA, 94901
Tel 415-456-2601
www.marinsanitaryservice.com
CONSERVATION - OUR EARTH, OUR MISSION, OUR JOB
2015
Contents
Executive Summary
1
Continued committment
1
Opertational efficiency
1
2014 in review
1
Looking Ahead
1
Waste Characterization Study 2014 and Diversion Working Group
3
Diversion Working Group
6
Public Outreach and Zero Waste Programs
14
Outreach and education services
14
First Annual Customer Appreciation Day
16
4R Planet School Program and Tours
17
mandatory commercial recycling (AB 341)
18
Mandatory Commercial organics Recycling (AB 1826) Update
21
Operational Improvement Plan
23
Routing and audits
23
Route Optimization and Workflow Improvement Soft -ware
24
Focus Group and Rate pilot: Implementation of key findings
26
Residential customers
26
Commercial customers
26
Billing Software Analysis
27
Rate sheet and fee standardization
28
Background on Diversion Calculations
29
Diversion versus recycling rates
29
Residential Service Levels
31
Commodity Prices
32
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Drop-off Program
33
Customer Service Call Logs
34
Residential and Commercial/Multifamily New Starts for 2014
34
Residential and Commercial/Multifamily Customer Complaints
34
Reports of injuries and damage to property
34
Contact Information
36
Executive Summary
CONTINUED COMMITTMENT
Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) continuously puts forth its best effort to help jurisdictions we serve in
meeting their Zero Waste and greenhouse gas reduction goals. In 2012, an amendment was made to
the Franchisors' Group (FG) agreements that included provision of a comprehensive annual report to
describe progress and achievements in meeting zero waste goals through programs and activities
approved by the Franchisors' Group to enhance progress towards zero waste. This amendment was
implemented in 2013. All data presented is for the entire MSS Service Area (San Rafael, Larkspur,
Ross, LGVSD, Ross Valley -North, Ross Valley -South, County of Marin, Fairfax and San Anselmo). Most
of the data reported is for the calendar year 2014. Some sections include data through June 30 (Q2
2015).
OPERTATIONAL EFFICIENCY
The Operational Improvement Plan and Zero Waste Programs detailed in this report illustrate MSS's
commitment to diverting resources from the landfill. Progress is being made to streamline collection
services and to make technology and fleet enhancements that will make routes more efficient,
improve data collection for monitoring and reporting the purposes, and ultimately keep rates as low
as possible. The County has a Zero Waste goal to divert 94% of all materials from the landfill by 2025.
MSS adds new programs and/or reviews and enhances ongoing programs on an annual basis.
Community Outreach and Education is essential to meeting diversion goals. MSS now employs six
dedicated Recycling Program Coordinators who are each responsible for a specific customer base
and/or program type.
2014 IN REVIEW
The focus for calendar year 2014 was on fine tuning existing programs and services and exploring
potential new programs. The 411 Planet School Programs has expanded and continues to bring in
people not only from local jurisdictions but from all over the globe to learn about our facility and
diversion programs. In 2012, AB 341, Mandatory Commercial Recycling became law. Since then, the
list of customers required to comply with this law continues to decrease as more and more business
and Multifamily Dwellings (MFDs) commit to diverting materials from the waste stream.
LOOKING AHEAD
In 2015, another organics program was implemented in the commercial sector. Commercial
customers now have the option of participating in two organics recycling programs: Commercial Food
to Energy (F2E) and/or Commercial Composting. A pilot study was conducted in MFDs to study
outreach methods that would result in high participation and low contamination. Another pilot
looked at the logistics of implementing a scheduled curbside bulky item collection program to help
with illegal dumping of materials. MSS proposes to implement these last two programs in 2016.
Page 1
Patty Garbarino
President, Marin Sanitary Service
September 1, 2015
Page 2
Waste Characterization Study 2014 and Diversion Working Group
In 2014, Marin Sanitary Service commissioned CalRecovery, Inc. to perform a quantitative
characterization of disposed waste delivered to the transfer station at Marin Sanitary Service. Loads
delivered to the Transfer Station by MSS rear loaders, roll -offs, and front loaders collection vehicles were
sampled and sorted.
Summary of Results
The two largest material types still disposed of by the residential and commercial sectors are organics
and paper (Table 1). Substantial percentages of food waste were identified in disposed residential
waste (29%), roll -off accounts of large commercial customers (39%), and commercial front loader
accounts (36%). Substantial concentrations of recyclable paper fiber (corrugated/paper bags,
newspaper, and mixed paper subcategories) were identified in disposed residential waste (13%), roll-
off accounts of large commercial customers (17%), and commercial front loader accounts (20%).
Contaminated paper, in many cases coated with wet food waste, comprised between 4% to 8% of the
residential, commercial roll -off, and commercial front loader disposed waste.
Table 1: Materials in Disposed Waste stream
CUSTOMER TYPE
Residential
Commercial
COLLECTION VEHCILE TYPE MATERIAL DISPOSED
Rear Loader Food waste
Roll -off
Commercial/Multifamily Front Loader
Residential Rear Loader
Commercial Roll -off
Commercial/Multifamily Front Loader
Food waste
Food waste
Paper Products
Paper Products
Paper Products
PERCENTAGE OF DISPOSAL
29%
39%
36%
13%
17%
20%
The residential focus group, in the rate structure analysis, revealed that the majority of customers value
MSS recycling and composting services and say they "recycle all they can". However, many still report
the "ick" factor (smells, mess, and pests) often prevents them from always placing food scraps in the
organics (green) cart. MSS will focus efforts on hands-on workshops that show customers how to avoid
issues like smells, dirty carts and fruit flies. Despite high customer awareness around curbside recycling
and organics services, a disconnect exists between what customers say they do and what they actually
do. This is evidenced in Figure 1 (materials in disposed waste stream that go to the landfill) which
shows that many easily recyclable and compostable items are still ending up in the landfill. Table 2
compares the 2008 study to the 2014 study. Another focus group finding from the residential sector is
that people are confused about paper/fiber recycling. Though the amount of paper being thrown away
has actually decreased from 28% to 17%, confusion remains around paper board items like cereal boxes
and glossy paper items like ads and junk mail. MSS will have more single material type education and
messaging in print, on the web and in social media campaigns and will be working with an Outreach
firm that specializes in behavior change campaigns using Community Based Social Marketing.
Page 3
Figure 1: 2014 Composition of Disposed (Landfilled) Waste Stream from Residential (95%)/Light Commercial
(5%)
Other Inorganic
6.7%
Other Organic
59.1%
(Food Waste, 28.9%)
HHW & Special
Waste
0.4
Paper Products
16.5%
Glass
kL —1.6%
Metal
3.6%
Plastic
12.2%
Table 2: 2014 Waste Characterization Comparison of Disposed (Landfilled) Materials in Residential Sector
MATERIAL
Other Organic (Yard waste and soiled
paper)
Food waste
Paper products
Glass
Metals
Plastics
PERCENTAGE OF
DISPOSAL 2008
21%
27%
28%
2%
5%
12%
PERCENTAGE OF
DISPOSAL 2014
30%
29%
17%
2%
4%
12%
The commercial focus group revealed that the majority of customers value MSS recycling and
composting services but only 16% said they actually recycle all they can. The 2014 Waste
Characterization study broke out commercial accounts by container type (Figures 2 and 3). This was not
broken out in the 2008 study, however. Percentages of disposed materials were averaged for these two
streams in the 2014 study for comparison with the 2008 study in Table 3. Organics and paper continue
to comprise the majority of recoverable items still being disposed in landfill containers (75% in 2008
and 74% in 2014). The addition of the commercial composting program in 2015, increased participation
Page 4
in commercial food waste to energy, and a full scale multifamily organics program in 2016 will help to
move these materials out of the landfill.
Table 3: Comparison of Disposed (Landfilled) Waste Stream for Commercial Customers
MATERIAL PERCENTAGE OF PERCENTAGE OF
DISPOSAL 2008 DISPOSAL 2014
Other Organic (Yard waste 15% 13%
and soiled paper)
Food waste
30%
Paper products
30%
Glass
2%
Metals
1%
Plastics
15%
Figure 2: 2014 Composition of Disposed (Landfillei
Figure 3: 2014 Com
Page 5
Other Organic
50.5%
(Food Waste, 39.0%)
37%
24%
3%
2%
16%
Waste Stream from Commercial Roll -off
Other Inorganic
0.2%
Paper Products
24.9%
Glass
g3.1%
Plastic
20.2%
Metal
1.0%
n of Disoosed Waste from Commercial Front Loader Accounts
Other Inorganic
7.6%
Other Organic
50.92 o
(Food Waste , �.7/I
Paper Products
23.4%
Glass
3.7%
Metal
'.2%
astic
IL.1%
DIVERSION WORKING GROUP
The MSS Diversion Working Group (DWG) was created to use the results of the Waste Characterization
Study performed by CalRecovery at the end of 2014, and to identify and develop projects that will
ultimately increase the recycling rates for the rate regulated services and programs at Marin Sanitary
Service and the non -rate regulated services at the Marin Resource Recovery Center. This will also aid in
helping our jurisdictions meet their Climate Action Plan goals and help the County of Marin reach its
diversion goal of 94%.
Identified Strategies:
1. The primary company strategy is to continue advocating source separation of materials in the
existing waste streams with a focus on organics and paper.
2. Collect additional materials (bulky items) that cannot be collected in curbside carts through
scheduled clean-up programs and have them processed through MRRC.
3. Completely separate wet organics from the commercial waste stream, allowing for the
processing of commercial "dry recyclable sort loads" inside MRRC.
4. Utilize new technologies to process the organics stream and/or recover the remaining difficult
to process recyclable materials.
The Diversion Working Group (DWG) is comprised of Managers and key staff from Operations, Outreach,
and Contract Compliance. Six (6) projects have been identified based on findings from the 2014
CalRecovery Waste Characterization Study that will focus on specific material streams for increased
recovery efforts. Meetings occur bi-monthly. Organics comprise the majority of the materials still being
disposed of by customers. Therefore, we believe that focused efforts on this stream will achieve two
goals: a reduction in GHG emissions (since organics are the largest contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions in a landfill), and increased diversion of these materials from the landfill into compost and
energy. Source separation will remain our primary strategy to collect recyclable materials to retain high
value and volume. Once maximum source separation is attained and organics are removed from the
waste stream, the resulting waste stream can be better analyzed to determine which technology would
be most appropriate for processing and recovering the remaining resources to increase recycling rates
and diversion.
Projects Identified:
1. Multifamily Organics (Food scraps/Yard waste) Pilot Study
a. Primary goals:
i. To increase participation in compost programs among Multifamily Dwelling tenants.
ii. To determine cost effective methods of outreach.
iii. To collect contaminant -free organic material.
iv. To study the cost impact of implementing a full scale organics program at MFDs.
b. Results:
i. Four outreach strategies were tested on 20 apartment buildings containing 185 units
tota I.
Page 6
Table 4: Outreach Method by Group
yes No
Yes Yes
Door-to-door outreach
Brochures/Internal Stickers
Posters Si nae Cart Stickers
ii. Overall study results are shown in the table below:
Table 5: MFD Composting Pilot Results
100% yWyb 7L%
90% 85%
80%
70%
60% 56%
50%
50%
40%
30%
20%
%
10% 2,e � 1%
Nor 0%
Group 3
Contamination Rate
Group 1 Group 2
■ Participation % Foodwaste
0
No
No
Yes
Yes
AMA
No
No '
No I
Yes
6LA
50%
5%
1•
Group 4
iii. Participation was audited to show the use of the green carts for collection of food
waste, food soiled paper and yard waste. Group 1 had a significantly higher level of
participation (91%) compared to the other three outreach Groups. The green carts in
this study were primarily used for the collection of food waste and food soiled papers.
A small percentage of the overall compostable material was yard waste. Though not
studied, this is most likely due to separate collection of landscaping materials by
maintenance or a professional landscaping company. While percentage of food waste
in with the yard waste was not significantly different between Group 1 and 2, there
was a significant difference between the first 3 Groups and Group 4. Contamination
also increased significantly in the groups that received the least outreach (Group 3 and
Page 7
4). Contaminants included plastic bags, plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic to -go
containers, Styrofoam cups and egg cartons, milk cartons, and coffee cups.
c. MSS Recommendations:
i. Utilize the outreach methods and tools provided to Group 1. These included kitchen
compost pails, door to door outreach with tenant, stickers, signs, brochures, flyers,
and training programs for Property Managers and Tenants
ii. Rate implications and options will also be provided to MSS service areas with the 2016
rate application.
2. Commercial Food Waste to Energy (F2E)
a. Primary goals:
i. To increase tonnage collected by WASTE FOOD. WASTE MONEY.increasing participation in the program.
MAKE THE SWITCH AND SAVE
ii. To increase community outreach and
messaging about the importance of the
program.
b. Results:
2`
i. Targeted messaging was sent to all JOIN FOOD 2 ENERGY TODAY
potential customers beginning March
415.456.2601
2015. A press release in mid spring
resulted in coverage of the success of the program in two local newspapers, four on-
line news sources, and one State Renewable Energy magazine.
ii. According to focus groups conducted in 2014, face to face conversations is what
guides the behavior of this sector. The primary focus of Outreach is to increase
participation.
iii. At the end of 2014, there were 70 customers enrolled in the F2E program. With
increased outreach efforts, advertising, and referrals from garbage route drivers, this
number increased to 119 by June 30, 2015. Average tonnage per month has
increased from 3.5 tons per day in 2014 (six day per week collection) to 5.2 tons per
day by June of 2015.
Page 8
Figure 4: F2E Progress December 2014 to July 2015 (tons)
160
140
120 106.3
100 88 .12 91.85
82
80 70 74
60
40
20
0
Dec -14 Jan -15 Feb -15
134.81 130.84
119.00 115
104 .2 109
101
911 11 11 11
150.36
19
Mar -15 Apr -15 May -15 Jun -15 Jul -15
■ Food Waste Outbound (Tons) ■ Participants
iv. Central Marin Sanitation Agency by the end of June 2015 was generating 16-18 hours
per day of their energy needs from food waste, biosolids and fats, oil and grease
collection (FOG).
3. Residential Organics (Food scraps/Yard waste) recycling
a. Primary goals:
i. To increase tonnage collected by increasing participation in the program.
ii. To increase community outreach and messaging about the importance of the program.
b. Plan:
i. Two new ad campaigns ("Make Every Crumb Count" and "Every Meal, Every Day, Every
Week: Compost") had targeted messaging to get customers to place food waste in
with the yard waste into the MSS green organics carts. Ads were also placed in the
Marin IJ, the Pacific Sun and the Marin Scope newspapers. Posters with messaging
were also distributed around the community and in schools.
Page 9
MAKE EVERY
CRUMB COUNT.
YOU CAN
MAKE A
DIFFERENCE
Composting food scraps
and food soiled paper
keeps valuable resources
out of the landfill and reduces
greenhouse gas emissions.
EVERYwask. ciC.-
r
� 4 1
EVERY MS01.P
COM OST .
WA
j lip
,' f e
�.�46
ii. All residential customers received information on what to place in the green cart
through a special compost newsletter with their bill.
iii. The website has been redesigned and contains more information on the importance
of this program, kitchen pail purchasing, tips for collecting food scraps in the home,
and a list of acceptable and non -acceptable items.
iv. Curbside composting workshops were implemented in 2015. The plan is to have one
per quarter. Customers are notified of the events through social media, the web, and
the distribution of flyers at public agencies and buildings.
v. In addition, the program is promoted at local events and on the MSS website.
vi. MSS will continue to partner with WMEarthcare (the compost facility at Redwood
Landfill), Zero Waste Marin, local non -profits and community groups on the promotion
of these organics programs.
vii. It was decided to forego food waste in green waste participation audits for 2015. 49%
of all organics routes are fully automated. Fully automated collection is much more
efficient and cost effective. The 2014 Waste Characterization showed an increase of
FW in the landfill despite high participation rates in 2013 (47%). Tonnage is not
correlating with participation though and the amount of food waste in the yard waste
is less than 3% on visual inspection. Outreach and effective messaging are the
strategies that the group feels will ultimately decrease the FW that is ending up in the
landfill.
4. Commercial "Dry loads" through MRRC
a. Primary goals:
i. To identify large commercial customers that have large volumes of "dry" materials
that cannot be collected in curbside carts and route them to MRRC for processing.
Page 10
For large commercial customers, dry loads may consist of items such as pallets,
cardboard, large plastic items, or other bulky items.
ii. To increase recovery of recyclable materials using current technology from this
customer base.
b. Plan:
i. MSS will begin coding customers by business type in Soft -Pak.
ii. Material mix will be audited through visual waste audits of the garbage stream.
iii. It is anticipated that approximately one third of all commercial bin customers would
qualify for inclusion in a dry load diversion program and that this could result in the
recovery of 25 — 30% more materials through manual sorting of dry loads.
iv. Work began early 2015 to identify this customer based on material mix from visual
waste audits. These customers will be "routed for diversion" through MRRC.
v. The rate implications for processing additional loads at Marin Resource Recovery will
be analyzed and presented to the MSS service area in spring 2016.
S. Processing at MRRC of bulky item loads from MSS curbside collection programs: Las Gallinas
Valley Sanitary District Pilot Program
a. Primary goals:
i. To determine the feasibility of implementing a curbside bulky item collection program
for residential customers in order to decrease illegal dumping of materials. The
chosen area for the pilot was Santa Venetia (LGVSD) with Monday -Thursday
collection days.
ii. Results from the pilot have allowed MSS to determine the following (Figure 5)
1. Cost of implementation: truck, driver time, outreach time and materials.
2. Cost of disposal and processing.
3. Types of materials collected.
4. Types of materials diverted.
Page 11
Figure 5: Santa Venetia Bulky Item Pilot Results
407
357 350
34 228 245 20 29 214
20
[120 108[116 103 [119
[50
1� . 2�7 5.97 1—
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
■ Customer Participation ■ Daily Customer Count ■ Tonnage ■ Pounds per Person
iii. Overall, participation was 29% with 35.25 tons of materials collected. 82% of these
materials were diverted from the landfill. Materials included scrap metals, rigid
plastics, mattresses, wood, TVs and e -waste.
Figure 6: Bulky Item Materials (tons/% of stream)
12.00 10.75 50%
45
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
Metal Rigid Mattresses Wood Other TV's E -
Plastic waste
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiTons Percentage
a
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
4%5%
0%
b. MSS Recommendations:
i. To add scheduled curbside bulky item collection programs in every service area.
Programs currently offered in some jurisdictions include scheduled curbside clean -
Page 12
ups of extra yard waste, recycling, and garbage; on-call bulky item collection; and a
hybrid of these two programs.
ii. Collecting bulky items on a scheduled basis in all jurisdictions may help alleviate
illegal dumping and will lead to higher participation in these programs.
iii. Table 6 below compares the current curbside collection programs in our contracts for
unincorporated areas of Marin County (Ross Valley North, Ross Valley South, and
unincorporated central Marin) to the LGVSD pilot. Distributing flyers to individual
customers the week before collection lead to a significant increase in participation;
however, this method of outreach is also time consuming and costly
Table 6: Comparison of Curbside Collection Programs
Jurisdiction
Participants
Customer
Base
Participation
Rate
Tons
Collected
Outreach
Method
Ross Valley-
150
2882
5%
Direct
South County of
Mailer
Marin
Ross Valley-
233
1231
19%
9.62
Billing
North
Insert
Las Gallinas
405
1359
29%
35.25
Door to
Valley Sanitary
Door
District (Santa
Flyer
Venetia) Pilot
iv. Rate implications will be provided to MSS service areas with the 2016 rate application
6. Infrastructure: Developing and utilizing new technologies and equipment to process the
organics stream and/or to recover the remaining difficult to process recyclable materials.
a. Two new technologies look very promising and have been approved to fit within the land
use footprint of MSS.
i. Dry Anaerobic Digestion could be used to process the more contaminated organic
fraction primarily from multifamily dwellings serviced by MSS. The biogas derived from
this process could be used as an energy source or a fuel source.
ii. Biomass Conversion technology could use the non-compostable wood waste as
feedstock for energy generation that could take MRRC off the grid.
b. The Transfer Station will need to be rebuilt in the near future and we believe it could be
better utilized by incorporating new technologies in the existing footprint. MSS will
continue to explore these and other technologies in the coming years and will work to find
a cost effective strategy that will result in more diversion of resources from the landfill.
Page 13
Public Outreach and Zero Waste Programs
OUTREACH AND EDUCATION SERVICES
At Marin Sanitary Service, community involvement through education, outreach and alliance building
is our greatest passion and supports our ultimate goal of zero waste. Our duty is to engage and educate
our community in how they too can be part of the solution. Outreach is the most important aspect in
reaching our goal of zero waste. In order to provide more hands-on training to customers, MSS now
employs five full-time Recycling Programs Coordinators each dedicated to a customer type in addition
to a full time Household Hazardous Waste Coordinator. Their contact and program specialty is listed
below.
Table 7: Outreach Department Staff Contacts
Name Title Contact
Jennifer Recycling (415) 458-5542
Grenier Selvig Programs Jennifer.prenier@marinsanitarv.com
(415) 456-2665
Jessica.Connolly@marinsanitarv.com
Primary Focus
Large Commercial
Businesses and
C&D Programs
Multifamily Dwellings
(Apartments)
(415) 526-6622 Food to Energy and
Ruben.Hernandez@marinsanitarv.com Commercial Organics
(415) 458-5539
Zoe.Pearl@marinsanitarv.com
(415) 485-6806
Kathv.Wall@marinsanitarv.com
(415) 458-5530
Chance.Shellev@marinsanitarv.com
Tours, Recycling
Education and
Outreach in Schools.
Curbside and Drop-off
HHW Programs
Community Outreach
and Residential
Programs
All Service Area residential and commercial customers have received multiple mailed communication
pieces informing them of MSS programs and services. These mailings have educated the public on zero
waste programs; proper recycling and composting practices; the hours and times of operation at all
facilities; proper disposal of household hazardous waste; and Mandatory Commercial Recycling (AB
341). Materials were also distributed to public libraries, city/town halls, police and fire departments,
Chambers of Commerce and community bulletin boards to reach more of the community. With the
addition of Outreach Staff, MSS has been able to do more hands-on education of customers at events
and individually with customers distributing more printed educational materials. The Figures below
show the various Outreach and Communications activities. Outreach activities for the first six months
Page 14
Coordinator
Jessica
Recycling
Connolly
Programs
Coordinator
Ruben
Recycling
Hernandez
Programs
Coordinator
Zoe Pearl
Education and
School Recycling
Programs
Coordinator
Kathy Wall
HHW
Coordinator
Chance
Recycling
Shelley
Programs
Coordinator
(415) 456-2665
Jessica.Connolly@marinsanitarv.com
Primary Focus
Large Commercial
Businesses and
C&D Programs
Multifamily Dwellings
(Apartments)
(415) 526-6622 Food to Energy and
Ruben.Hernandez@marinsanitarv.com Commercial Organics
(415) 458-5539
Zoe.Pearl@marinsanitarv.com
(415) 485-6806
Kathv.Wall@marinsanitarv.com
(415) 458-5530
Chance.Shellev@marinsanitarv.com
Tours, Recycling
Education and
Outreach in Schools.
Curbside and Drop-off
HHW Programs
Community Outreach
and Residential
Programs
All Service Area residential and commercial customers have received multiple mailed communication
pieces informing them of MSS programs and services. These mailings have educated the public on zero
waste programs; proper recycling and composting practices; the hours and times of operation at all
facilities; proper disposal of household hazardous waste; and Mandatory Commercial Recycling (AB
341). Materials were also distributed to public libraries, city/town halls, police and fire departments,
Chambers of Commerce and community bulletin boards to reach more of the community. With the
addition of Outreach Staff, MSS has been able to do more hands-on education of customers at events
and individually with customers distributing more printed educational materials. The Figures below
show the various Outreach and Communications activities. Outreach activities for the first six months
Page 14
of 2015 is already twice (Figure 7, 228 activities) what it was for the entire 2014 year (Figure 8, 120
activities). Community meetings include but are not limited to Chambers of Commerce, Climate Action
Planning committees, School Green Teams, Home Owner and Neighborhood Association meetings.
Community newsletters are non -MSS publications and include City and Town Manager electronic
newsletters, school newsletters and neighborhood association print and online newsletters.
Figure 7: Communications and Community Outreach by Type Q1-2 2015 (not including Schools or Mandatory
Commercial Recycling)
Social Media Ads � 7
Presentations 28
Postcards M 3
Newsletters � 7
Direct Mailers 1 1
Council Presentations � 7
Community Newsletters 1 1
Community Meetings 100
Community Events 36
Billing inserts � 8
Advertisements 30
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Figure 8: Communications and Community Outreach by Type Q1-4 2014 (not including Schools or Mandatory
Commercial Recycling)
Presentations 5
Articles for Newsletters 13
Newsletters 7
Community Meetings = 2
Community Events 45
Billing inserts 12
Advertisements 4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Page 15
FIRST ANNUAL CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY
On Sunday, April 19, 2015, MSS held the first
annual customer appreciation day. The event
was advertised in the biannual newsletter that
was directly mailed to each customer, in local
print and online newspapers, and via social
media. MSS anticipates double the turnout
next year. Figure 9 shows the number of
participants at each event. The event officially
started at gam; however, excited customers
started lining up before Sam and the very last
of the compost was scooped at 2:15.
Customers had the opportunity to participate in a tour and/or a composting workshop. The 45 minute
tour included the Marin Recycling Center, the Marin Resource Recovery Center, the Marin Household
Hazardous Waste Facility and the animals at "Flying Can Ranch". During the 30 minute composting
workshop, customers learned how to successfully participate in the organics "green cart" program and
received a kitchen pail and instructions to take home. The biggest draw of the day was the free compost
giveaway (Table 8). MSS advertised no more than 64 gallons of compost per customer. On average, the
amount given away was 76 gallons per customer. The company received several letters, emails and
phone calls thanking us for the event.
Table 8: Compost Giveaway Details
TOTAL PARTICIPANTS 213
Compost available (Cubic Yards) 80
Compost available (Gallons: 1 CY = 202 gallons) 16,160
Compost per participant (gallons) 76
Figure 9: Customer Participation by Event Type
■ Tours ■ Green Cart Composting Class ■ Compost giveway
Page 16
4R PLANET SCHOOL PROGRAM AND TOURS
At MSS, our goal is to educate, equip and empower school
districts, individual schools and/or classrooms to develop
comprehensive waste reduction and recycling plans. The 4R
Planet School program is twofold. The first is our onsite
program which includes tours of the MSS recycling facilities
and lessons on the Four R's in the MSS Environmental
Classroom. Second is our in school program which includes
hands-on training, waste diversion program assistance, and
customized educational lessons. All of these activities are led
by our Education & School Recycling Programs Coordinator.
MSS entered into a series of conversations and strategy sessions with Mary Jane Burke and her staff at
the Marin County Office of Education. The issues and obstacles of recycling and composting were
discussed and a report card was generated for each school showing service levels and diversion rates.
The results of these report cards will be distributed in the 2015-2016 school year in an attempt to
decrease waste and increase recycling and composting at each school. In addition, MSS is collaborating
with Zero Waste Marin on a pilot study to measure outreach techniques that result in behavior change.
At the start of this school year, every school was hand delivered information on our 4R Planet School
Program, tours, and the services we offer including the composting program. Figure 10 shows the types
of outreach that were performed in 2014-2015.
Figure 10: School Outreach by Type (2014-2015)
Site Tours 86
School Assemblies W 4
v Special Events W 4
a
a
Other On-site Outreach 44
s
v Waste Audits W 5
0 Recycling Needs Assessment s WFEW 18
Onsite Trainings N 4
Emails & Phone Calls 179
1148=14=61�11i4111
The following services are provided to schools at no cost:
❑ Onsite evaluation of recycling needs.
❑ Waste audits to help schools know what recyclables are still being thrown in the trash.
❑ Signage, stickers, and curbside containers to help with source separation.
Page 17
❑ Educational lessons and assemblies on the 4R's.
❑ Source separation trainings.
❑ Green team guidance on waste reduction planning.
❑ Educational tours of MSS recycling facilities.
❑ Lending library of resources: books, DVDs, binders with lesson plans that meet California
curriculum standards.
❑ Online resources: sample letters, lesson ideas, recycling procedures and more.
MANDATORY COMMERCIAL RECYCLING (AB 341)
Mandatory Commercial Recycling (AB 341) has been in effect since July 2012. This law calls for recycling
75 percent of California's solid waste by 2020. This is a significant increase above the 50 -percent,
statewide recycling mandate established in AB 939, which was passed in 1989 and has been the primary
driving force for improving recycling in California. Approximately 60% of materials disposed of in
landfills are from the commercial sector.
It is important to note that AB 341 is a continuation of an effort by the state to reduce greenhouse -gas
(GHG) emissions, as required by AB 32, which became law in 2006. Simply stated, recycling reduces
GHG emissions, and through the implementation of AB 341 will make a significant reduction in these
emissions.
Cal -Recycle meets annually with MSS and the jurisdictions we serve to assess how outreach, education
and monitoring is taking place in Marin County. They constantly comment that we are way ahead of the
curve in getting compliance. 94% of all commercial and apartment customers were in compliance at
the end of 2013.
Educating businesses about recycling is a dynamic and ongoing process. MSS has two Commercial
Recycling Coordinators working with businesses and apartment buildings. In addition, there is a full
time Commercial Recycling Coordinator dedicated to increasing participation in the two organics
programs (Commercial Food Waste to Energy (F2E) and Commercial Composting) and a full time School
Recycling Coordinator. New businesses and their employees are educated about recycling requirements
and opportunities. Existing businesses and their employees are monitored and encouraged to divert
even more resources from the landfill.
Waste audits are part of the monitoring process and help to identify waste types and volumes of
divertible materials in the disposed of waste stream. Drivers performed over 1100 on-site visual audits
of commercial landfill carts. Customers with 50% or more of divertible material were referred to the
appropriate Outreach Staff for waste stream assessments. Waste stream assessments are on-site
assessments of the waste stream (total flow of materials generated) and recycling potential of an
individual business, institution, or household. From this assessment, service and education needs are
determined and a waste reduction plan is developed and implemented. Customers who have been
identified to be non-compliant with AB 341 receive a phone call, followed by a letter that is followed by
an onsite waste assessment. If the customer remains non-compliant after 90 days, they are referred to
Page 18
the City, Town, or County jurisdiction for follow-up. Collaboration between the public and MSS is key
to the success of this law. The findings are in line with Waste Characterization Study conducted by MSS
in November 2014.
Out of 2,215 commercial businesses, 84% (1,866) subscribe to at least one recycling service and 14%
(316) are not required under AB 341 to have recycling services. At the end of June 2015, only Larkspur
and San Rafael still have non-compliant businesses (Table 9). Of the 737 Multifamily Dwellings
(apartments buildings with five or more units), only five percent (38) remain non-compliant (Table 10).
All are in San Rafael. Of the jurisdictions MSS serves, only Fairfax has a Mandatory Commercial Recycling
Ordinance that requires ALL commercial businesses and multifamily dwellings to recycle and/or
compost. This has been very successful in increasing diversion and participation in MSS recycling and
organics programs.
Table 9: Commercial Business Non -Compliance with AB 341
C
JURISDICTION
San Rafael
Consolidated County of Marin
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District
Ross
Larkspur
San Anselmo
Fairfax
Grand Total
Commercial Businesses
Jan -Dec 2013 Jan -Dec 2014 Jan -June 2015
Qualifies: NOT Qualifies: NOT Qualifies: NOT
compliant compliant compliant
45 25 31
1 0 0
1 0 0
0 0 0
5 0 2
2 0 0
0 0 0
54 25 33
Table 10: Multifamily Dwelling Compliance with AB 341
JURISDICTION
San Rafael
Consolidated County of Marin
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary
District
Ross
Larkspur
San Anselmo
Fairfax
Grand Total
Page 19
Multifamily Dwellings
Jan -Dec 2013 Jan -Dec 2014 Jan -June 2015
Qualifies: NOT Qualifies: NOT Qualifies: NOT
compliant compliant compliant
91 43 38
2 2 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
1 1 0
0 1 0
0 0 0
94 47 38
Table 10: Multifamily Dwelling Compliance with AB 341
JURISDICTION
San Rafael
Consolidated County of Marin
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary
District
Ross
Larkspur
San Anselmo
Fairfax
Grand Total
Page 19
Multifamily Dwellings
Jan -Dec 2013 Jan -Dec 2014 Jan -June 2015
Qualifies: NOT Qualifies: NOT Qualifies: NOT
compliant compliant compliant
91 43 38
2 2 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
1 1 0
0 1 0
0 0 0
94 47 38
Having specialized Recycling Program Coordinators has allowed MSS to streamline and individualize
outreach efforts for the variety of customers in the commercial sector. Assessments of the customers'
waste stream is then used to tailor a recycling program that best suits the business type. The Operations
staff and Outreach staff use this data is to create a comprehensive diversion plan. Once recycling and/or
organics services are established, the teams work to "right size" the garbage service which often results
in decrease in the overall "resource hauling" bill. There have been 1,809 different outreach contacts
for Q1-2, 2015. Details are shown below in Table 7. Figures 11, 12 and 13 show the break outs by
customer type.
Table 11: Commercial/Multifamily Outreach by Type January -June, 2015
OUTREACH TYPE
EXPLANATION OF OUTREACH TYPE
TOTAL
Emails & Phone Calls
Communication with customers via email or phone
706
Onsite Training
Includes workshops, presentations and hands-on sorting training
91
Mailed Recycling Info
Any Outreach Materials mailed through USPS
2
Recycling Needs Assessment
Detailed assessment of all materials generated and recycling/organics needs
502
Waste Audit
Audit to determine resources being thrown in garbage
6
Other On-site Outreach
Includes labeling carts/bins, delivery of posters & other outreach materials
426
Compliance Notification
AB 341 (Mandatory Commercial Recycling) Compliance letters mailed
76
Grand Total
1809
Figure 11: Outreach for all Commercial Businesses January -June, 2015
Fairfax
San Anselmo
Ross ■
Larkspur
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District I
San Rafael
Consolidated County of Marin
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
■ Emails & Phone Calls
Mailed Recycling Info
■ Waste Audit
■ Compliance Notification Mailed
Page 20
■ Onsite Training
■ Recycling Needs Assessment
■ Other On-site Outreach
Figure 12: Outreach for Multifamily Dwellings January -June, 2015 (**There are no MFDs in the Town of Ross)
Multifamily Dwelling Outreach Q1-2 2015
Fairfax
Ross**
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District ■
Consolidated County of Marin
0 50 100
■ Emails & Phone Calls ■ Onsite Training
■ Recycling Needs Assessment ■ Waste Audit
■ Compliance Notification Mailed
150 200 250
Mailed Recycling Info
■ Other On-site Outreach
Figure 13: Additional F2E/Commercial Compost Outreach January -June, 2015
Additional F2E/Commercial Compost Outreach Q1-2 2015
Fairfax M
San Anselmo
Ross I
Larkspur O
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District I
San Rafael
Consolidated County of Marin ■
0 50 100 150 200 250
■ Onsite Training ■ Recycling Needs Assessment Other On-site Outreach
MANDATORY COMMERCIAL ORGANICS RECYCLING (AB 1826) UPDATE
In October of 2014 Governor Brown signed AB 1826 Chesbro (Chapter 727, Statutes of 2014), requiring
businesses to recycle their organic waste beginning April 1, 2016, depending on the amount of waste
they generate per week. This law also requires that on and after January 1, 2016, local jurisdictions
across the state must implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste generated
by businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings that consist of five or more units (please note,
however, that, multifamily dwellings are not required to have a food waste diversion program). Organic
waste means food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and
food -soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste. This law phases in the mandatory recycling of
commercial organics over time.
Page 21
April 1, 2016: a business that generates eight cubic yards or more of organic waste per week
January 1, 2017: a business that generates four cubic yards or more of organic waste per week
January 1, 2019: a business that generates four cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste
Summer/Fall 2021: If CalRecycle determines that the statewide disposal of organic waste in
2020 has not been reduced by 50 percent of the level of disposal during 2014, the organic
recycling requirements on businesses will expand to cover businesses that generate two cubic
yards or more of commercial solid waste per week. Additionally certain exemptions, previously
discussed, may no longer be available if this target is not met.
Issues and Local Government Effects
Unlike AB 341 in which volumes of municipal solid waste are the criteria for compliance, AB
1826 uses volume of organics generated as the criteria. The only way to know how much of the
waste stream is comprised of organic materials, a detailed waste audit would need to be
performed. This is a time consuming and costly process.
Unlike AB 341 in which the hauler can easily identify customers, the administrative burden of
complying with this law is on local government.
Self -haul allowance is problematic unless self -haulers are held to the same environmental
health and safety standards as haulers and the material is hauled to a designated and permitted
processing facility.
Multifamily units that subscribe to landscaping services must be tracked and monitored by local
government. Landscapers are self -haulers.
Suggested solution
Creation of a Mandatory Commercial Recycling and Organics ordinance that makes identification of
customers easier, contains a mechanism for enforcement, and allows MSS to educate, monitor and
report progress to the jurisdictions we serve. MSS would be happy to coordinate with each
jurisdiction to develop an ordinance that meets all State recycling and organics laws and helps meet
city and town climate action plan goals for green house emission reductions and diversion. For
more information on this law, visit htti)://www.caIrecvcle.ca.gov/Recvcle/Commercial/Organics/
Page 22
Operational Improvement Plan
In 2012, MSS underwent an extensive audit of its collection operations. From the results of the audit,
a five year Operational Improvement Implementation Plan was developed. This ongoing plan will lead
to the following:
Increased staffing and operational improvements.
Technology changes and upgrades to the existing sorting infrastructure.
Enhanced outreach programs
The overarching goal is to efficiently increase diversion rates by introducing new programs and
technology in a cost effective manner to keep rates affordable to the MSS rate base. MSS is now two
years into the implementation of this efficiency based plan. Accomplishments to date include:
Implementation of routing efficiencies including new routing software, continued replacement
of rear loading trucks with more efficient fully automated side loaders, and route
consolidations.
Reduction of routes while sustaining high service levels.
Route supervision and auditing which have resulted in the retrieval of lost revenues.
New Diversion Working Group established in 2015 to look specifically at all emerging diversion
opportunities.
ROUTING AND AUDITS
Route Consolidation: A new automated garbage truck route was established in San Anselmo and Ross
Valley North. This increase in efficiency enabled MSS to eliminate one full-time position. The new
automated truck, with a single driver, is able to do the work of what was once done by two employees.
The use of fully automated collection vehicles will be expanded in the coming years.
Audit Results:
Account and Service Audits: Account audits determine if customers are being billed properly
for the service they receive. Service audits are to ensure that customers have the correct
carts/bins on site that MSS has recorded in the Soft -Pak data base. Audits are performed on an
ongoing basis for garbage, recycling and organics routes. Another goal of these audits is to
determine the feasibility of further implementing fully automated routes.
o Service Not Billed: 365 accounts were not being billed for the services being provided.
Letters were sent to the residences to inform them to call and set up an account to
continue receiving service. 271 accounts have resumed service after receiving the
letter.
Page 23
o No Service: 303 accounts did not have any service. Letters were mailed to these
residences to inform them of the services offered by MSS. 88 customers have resumed
service after receiving the letter.
Distance: Standard base rates exist for curbside collection of garbage, recycling and organics.
For carts not placed at the curb there is an additional fee for collection (distance fees). 267
accounts were identified that had been receiving distance service at no charge. The distance
was measured and letters were mailed to the customers giving them the option of either
bringing the carts down to the curb side or paying the charge for distance. Of the 267, 33
qualified to receive onsite collection (distance) at no charge due to a disability and have a
disability waiver noted in their account, 27 are now placing their carts at the curb to avoid the
distance fees and 48 did not respond at all. All others have agreed to the distance fees for
onsite collection.
Set -Out Rates: Set out rates are used to determine participation in programs. Residential
Organics, Recycling and Garbage routes were audited by counting the number of carts put out
for service. Residential collection is once per week for all three services. A one week snap shot
yielded the following results.
o Garbage -92%
o Recycle — 84%
o Organics -73%
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Page 24
Rev iew,; Rema[th Addruzes- _
At the end of April 2015 MSS purchased RouteSmart, a route optimization and balancing software
program, and began to aid the Operations Department in furthering our efficiency goals and
maintenance of collection routes. In May a designated server was set up and a training and
implementation plan was established. This will take place over a five month period and is expected to
be completed in November 2015. Phase 1 began in June 2015 and included:
Purchase of the program and a dedicated RouteSmart program server.
Data validation and cleanup in the main Customer Service Program concentrating on
street/address details.
Geo -coding of all street data.
Review of collection route attributes including stop time per collection type, posted speed
limits, route start/stop times, truck & cart capacity, and collection location.
Tablet Implementation:
In May 2015, MSS rolled out a new program utilizing Samsung Tablets
to run routing software inside the route trucks. A total of 20 tablets are
currently in use. Tablets were initially trialed on roll -off routes then
expanded to cart delivery and commercial recycling routes. There are
many benefits of using the tablets; however the two most important
are: 1) the automated recording of collection data and 2) the ability to
properly record and measure route productivity. The tablets track all
work orders and route stops and automatically time stamp all pick-ups
ensuring timely and efficient service to our customers. The tablets
eliminate the need to manually enter this information into our
computer system and also enabled the Company to go paperless for
these routes. Prior to this, each driver received a route list that could
be one hundred or more pages in length. Not only do the tablets contain all the information contained
in the printed route list, they also enable the driver to enter route notes directly into each customer's
account, take pictures to document blocked or overloaded containers, and sequence new stops they
may have on their route. These notes contain useful information that help customer service
representatives to give real time information to our customers. Next steps will be to add the tablets to
the Residential Automated Routes. The use of these tablets will continue to help streamline MSS
operations and simplify the record keeping needed to ensure routes are run efficiently.
Page 25
Focus Group and Rate pilot: Implementation of key findings
The Franchisors Group engaged HF&H to review and revise the current disposal based rate structure in
order to investigate converting to a structure in which charges for all services are outlined (a materials
management structure). Focus groups were held for single-family residential, commercial, and
multifamily tenants and property managers/owners at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014. After
analysis of the data, the group decided to proceed with a pilot for the commercial and single-family
residential customers only.
Based on findings from the focus group and the rate pilot, the following was presented to the
Franchisors' Group and was implemented in 2015. New service descriptions have been added to the
bill to help customers understand what services are being provided as part of the monthly rate. A
common misconception gleaned from all of the focus groups was that MSS sorts through the garbage.
To help dispel this thought and reeducate customers, "garbage service" has been replaced with "landfill
service" to help show customers the final destination of materials in these carts/bins. MSS will track
service changes for 6 months and assess the impact of the new messaging and billing format on service
levels. Behavior change will be monitored and presented to the FG in the fall. In addition, MSS will
investigate costs and a time frame for changing the commercial billing system to a credit based system
as tested in the pilot study. Research findings will guide a larger conversation on the prospect for a new
commercial rate structure, credit based system, and local ordinances for mandatory recycling and
organic services for all service sectors to increase diversion. Changes could be adopted by 2016.
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS
This sector received a reformatted bill that now shows all services presented in a "bundled rate" for one
low cost. In addition, they received a flyer with the bill containing information on saving money by
reducing, reusing, recycling and composting. Customers are now offered extra recycling split carts for
a nominal monthly fee. Additional yard waste carts are already offered for a nominal monthly fee. Final
approval on the new messaging and billing format was approved by all jurisdictions in early March 2015.
For this reason, the revised bills and messaging rolled out to all customers beginning with April 2015
bills. Each single-family residential customer receives a quarterly billing statement (on month in arrears,
present month and one month in advance).
COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS
This sector received a reformatted bill and enhanced messaging based on focus group findings and
feedback on direct cost savings by participating in recycling and composting programs. Beginning 2015,
two organics programs were offered for the same charge to all commercial customers. At this time,
there is no separate charge for organic service at multifamily dwellings. Final approval was obtained
from each jurisdiction before the new messaging, organic service fees and billing format was rolled out.
The new format and information was formally rolled out to all commercial businesses and multifamily
units in April 2015. Commercial customers receive monthly billing invoices for services provided the
previous month.
Page 26
BILLING SOFTWARE ANALYSIS
Background:
MSS tested a credit based billing method for commercial customers developed by HF&H. In this credit
based system, all commercial customers would receive a substantial increase in the current rate for
garbage collection (20% was tested) and would receive a credit of up to 30% for diverting materials from
the landfill (at least 25% of the overall waste generation). This credit based system made the following
assumptions:
Customers would subscribe to MSS containers (carts/bins) for ALL recycling, organics and
garbage service.
All recycling and organics would be full and contaminant free and placed at the curb according
to the subscribed collection frequency.
MSS performed a review of available waste management billing and operations software programs that
would allow incorporating a credit based billing system to incentivize commercial customers to reduce
"landfill gallons" and increase "diversion gallons". The following systems were reviewed:
Waste Accounting Management (WAM): This system currently has no plans to offer a credit
based system but would be willing to investigate developing something.
Terra Trash: At this time, they are not interested in adding this feature.
Tower: This system currently has no plans to offer a credit based system but would be willing
to investigate developing something.
Desert Micro: This system currently has no plans to offer a credit based system but would be
willing to investigate developing something.
Soft -Pak: MSS uses this software for customer service, billing, routing, and scale soft -ware
system currently. Soft -Pak is willing to develop a credit based system.
Commercial customers reported that a credit based system would incentivize them to divert materials
from the landfill and reduce their overall waste generation. This customer base also reported being
unaware of all the recycling services offered my MSS (cardboard, paper, bottles & cans, organics). Many
reported that they self -haul, back -haul, donate or sell their recyclables but would be interested in
subscribing to MSS recycling services to help the County of Marin achieve a high diversion rate and to
help offset the costs of processing recyclables and organics.
Analvsis
Many of the modules MSS relies upon on for daily operations do not interface with the software
platforms from the other companies and would need to be purchased from other vendors assuming
they exist. For this reason, only our current software provider, Soft -Pak was consulted regarding
development of a custom billing program. Though initially conversations with Soft -Pak about this
proposal were optimistic, the company announced at its user conference in September, 2015, that it is
moving away from custom programming and is now advocating standardized programming to their
customers. The reason for this is threefold: 1) it keeps costs down, 2) it enables Soft -Pak to create
Page 27
standard software that is more detailed by having the base program include all of the most popular
customer demands rather than custom software fixes, and 3) allows programmers to better serve the
customer base. Implementation of this type of credit based system would have the following impacts:
MSS would not be able to participate in "global Soft -Pak system updates" and would instead
require more complicated and time consuming system updates.
MSS and Soft -Pak have expressed concern about effect on the main database due to the
custom programming. It is unknown how future upgrades to the calculator and entire dataset
can be handled.
MSS anticipates the following staffing needs:
o At least three fulltime staff including one-two dedicated customer service
representatives (CSR) and an additional full time route auditor and pick-up truck.
o RouteSmart, the MSS route optimization system is heavily dependent on accurate and
up to date service level data. Frequent changes to service levels could have a
negative impact to routing solutions offered by this program. To ensure the accuracy,
this system would require a dedicated fulltime staff.
o Increased program administrative needs:
■ Monitoring service level changes
• Verification of documentation
■ Verification of billing
■ Increased communication needs between CSR, dispatch, drivers, route
supervisors, and outreach staff regarding changes required i.e. service
location issues
■ Increased training needs
■ Costs could exceed $200,000 per year to message, monitor and manage this
program.
Recommendations:
At this time, MSS recommends continuing with the current billing system in which commercial
customers pay for garbage, recycling is bundled into the "garbage" rate, and organics service is offered
at a rate 30% less than the garbage rate. Increased efforts are underway to provide more messaging
on service offerings and more hands-on outreach and education to commercial customers.
Monitoring of the effects of these efforts will be reported annually to all MSS service areas.
RATE SHEET AND FEE STANDARDIZATION
MSS has begun the process of standardizing the rate sheets for all jurisdictions to provide consistency
across service areas. The new format will be a matrix layout with separate sections for service sectors
(single family residences, multifamily dwellings, and commercial businesses). The Company has also
begun the process of standardizing fees across all service areas for items such as lock fees, steam cleans,
and resume service fees. Preliminary plans were presented at the Service Area meeting on May 12,
2015.
Page 28
Background on Diversion Calculations
DIVERSION VERSUS RECYCLING RATES
There is confusion about diversion rates which are used by the County of Marin to gauge compliance
with State mandates such as AB 939 and recycling rates, which are used by haulers to determine what
amounts of materials are recycled or composted curbside for residential and commercial customers.
Both methods help measure success/compliance, however, they use different calculation methods.
Overall, the goal is to reduce waste and send less waste to the landfills by recycling and composting
more materials.
Jurisdictional diversion rates are calculated based on a disposal -based indicator which is a per capita
disposal rate expressed as pounds per person per day (PPD). This disposal rate uses two factors: a
jurisdiction's population and its disposal tonnage, as reported by disposal facilities. The jurisdictional
diversion rate focuses on a list of programs that includes but is not limited to recycling, composting,
household hazardous waste, and other source reduction programs such as purchasing policies,
xeriscaping, and material exchange programs (thrift shops, yard sales, reuse stores). The disposal target
for each jurisdiction or regional agency was calculated by averaging the waste generation over a period
of four years (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006), which was determined by CalRecycle to be the equivalency
of the 50% AB 939 landfill diversion rate. The disposal target for the Marin County was calculated to be
7.6 PPD. For 2013, the Marin County Jurisdictional Diversion rate was 74% (down from 75% in 2013)
with a population disposal of 4.0 PPD (up from 3.8 PPD in 2012). Information on the source reduction
reporting element can be found at the link below.
(htto://www.calrecvcle.ca.jzov/12central/PARIS/Codes/default.htm#Reduction)
The ton -per -ton disposal and recycling rates of the various haulers in Marin, including Marin Sanitary
Service, all contribute to the 74% diversion rate. For the purpose of this report, only tonnages for
materials collected and processed under the Franchise Agreements are used and are presented going
forward as "Recycling Rates". The Franchised Programs are discussed under Zero Waste Programs.
Other tonnages from residential and commercial self -hauling, construction & demolition debris box
rentals, and a host of other non -franchised programs within the County are not accounted for in this
annual report but are reflected in the Jurisdictional diversion rate that is reported by MSS to the
Marin Hazardous and Solid Waste Joint Powers Authority (JPA), who in turn reports this tonnage
information to the State of California. Table 12 shows the tonnage collected for the entire MSS Service
Area. The overall recycling rate has increased slightly from Q2, 2014 to Q2, 2015. Jurisdictions all over
the Nation are seeing similar trends in Recycling Rates partially due to the "evolving ton". There are
fewer newspapers in print, less glass, lighter weight metals and plastics, more film pouch packaging
compared to 10 years ago. On average, it takes 25% more plastic by volume to make the same ton
today. Though more volumes of materials are being recycled and processed, this shift combined with
less overall disposal makes the recycling rates appear to be unchanged or even decreasing according to
an EPA Webinar Series on "The Changing Waste Stream", November 13, 2014.
Page 29
Table 12: MSS SERVICE AREA DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING RATES
Residential Residential Commercial Commercial Total Total
Q2, 2015 Q2, 2014 Q2, 2015 Q2, 2014 Q2, 2015 Q2, 2014
Tons Collected:
Curbside Yard Waste
9,600
9,257
NA*
NA*
Curbside Recycle
6,689
6,753
3,340
3,215
Transfer Station
7,321
7,266
16,021
16,407
Commercial Food waste
(F2E)
NA
NA
736
522
Commercial processed
at Marin Resource
NA
NA
4,919
4,945
Recovery Center (MRRC)
Total Tons Collected
23,610
23,276
25,016
25,089
*Commercial yard waste is co -collected with residential yard waste.
Tonnage is included with
Residential.
Tons Recycled:
Curbside Yard Waste
9,600
9,257
NA*
NA*
Curbside Recycle
6,689
6,753
3,340
3,215
Commercial Food waste
(F2E)
NA
NA
736
522
Commercial recovered
through MRRC
NA
NA
4,134
4,121
Total Tons Recycled
16,289
16,009
8,210
7,857
*Commercial yard waste is co -col ected with residential yard waste. Tonnage is included with
Residential.
Recycling Rate I 69% I 69% I 33% I 31%
Page 30
9,600
9,257
10,029
9,967
23,342
23,673
736
522
4,919 4,945
48,626 48,364
9,600 9,257
10,029 9,967
736 522
4,134 4,121
24,499 23,867
50% I 49% J
Residential Service Levels
All residential customers are offered three services as part of the bundled "resource hauling" rate. This
includes a gray "landfill" (garbage) cart, a split body recycling cart and a green organics cart. The charge
is based on the size of the landfill cart. At the end of June 2015, there were 30,487 Residential
customers signed up for service with MSS. The number of 20 -gallon subscriptions continues to increase
annually while the number of 64 and 96 gallon subscriptions continue to decrease (Table 13). Table 14
shows the subscriptions to organics and recycling services. These numbers are only for MSS supplied
tipper carts and do not reflect customer owned cans or bags that contain extra yard waste and/or
recycling. In 2014, MSS introduced a larger 95 -gallon split cart for recycling and a smaller 35 -gallon
green cart for organics. There is a nominal fee for the rental of additional MSS tipper carts for organics
and recycling. MSS encourages the use of company owned carts to increase collection efficiency,
decrease damage to customer owned containers, and increase safety of our drivers by preventing risk
of injury due to the manual moving and emptying of customer owned containers.
Table 13: Residential "Landfill"
Cart Service Subscriptions
Number of customers
Residential
Weekly Garbage Service
2011
2012 2013 2014
Q2 2015
Number of customers
64 gallon
CART size
2011
2012 2013 2014 Q2 2015
% change
95 gallon
-
- - 546
since 2011
20 gallon
2,825
3,137 3,517 3,896 4,345
54%
32 gallon
20,113
20,216 20,157 20,068 19,865
-1%
64 gallon
6,474
6,133 5,935 5,837 5,713
-12%
96 gallon
700
654 594 569 564
-19%
Table 14: Residential Cart Service Subscription for Recycling and Organics
fir Residential Weekly DL 11 Sort Recycling Service
Page 31
Number of customers
CART size
2011
2012 2013 2014
Q2 2015
% change
64 gallon
28,121
28,194 28,333 28,902
28,858
3%
95 gallon
-
- - 546
699
28%
Residential
Weekly Green Waste
Service
Number of customers
CART size
2011
2012 2013 2014
Q2 2015
% change
35 gallon
-
- - 186
337
81%
64 gallon
28,889
29,193 29,710 30,155
30,139
4%
Page 31
Commodity Prices
All commodity prices have decreased significantly in 2015, most notably for PET#1 bottle shaped
plastics, #3-7 mixed rigid plastics and glass. This trend is expected to continue.
Figure 14: Commodity Prices for aluminum, glass, and plastics #1-7.
$1,800
$1,593 $1,673
$1,600
$1,358 $1,397
$1,320 $1,338
$1,400
$1,200
$1,000
$800
$600
$487
$486
$400
$232
$200
$39 $23
$80 $88
$18 ■ $20
2013
2014
Q2 2015
■ Aluminum cans ■ Glass
HDPE #2 bottles ■ PET #1 bottles
■ #3-7 mixed rigid plastics
Prices for cardboard, newsprint, mixed paper and office paper were similar in 2013 and 2014. Except
for a slight increase in the price for mixed paper, the price for all other paper fiber products has
decreased in 2015. This trend is expected to continue.
Figure 15: Commodity prices for Paper Fiber Products
$250.00
$200.00 $176.54 $180.83 $163.25 $192.38
$157.25 $141.08
is144.17 $135.20
$150.00 $138.20 I $132.20
$124.5 $120.5
$100.00
$50.00
2013 2014 Q2 2015
■ Cardboard ■ Newsprint Mixed paper ■ Office paper
Page 32
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Drop-off Program
Though not an annual reporting requirement, we felt it worthwhile to show the results of this
important diversion service. The Marin Household Hazardous Waste Facility tracks participants by city,
town, and unincorporated Marin. Ross Valley -South, County of Marin, and Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary
District are grouped in with other unincorporated areas south of Novato including West Marin. Ross
Valley -North customers are included in the totals for Fairfax and San Anselmo. From July 1, 2014
through June 30, 2015, 18,577 customers in the MSS service area participated in the HHW drop-off
programs (18,339 residential and 238 commercial participants). Table 11 provides the total number of
participants by customer type in each city/town.
Table 15: 2014-2015 HHW PARTICIPANTS
CITY/TOWN
Fairfax
Larkspur
Ross
San Anselmo
San Rafael
Unincorporated Marin County
Total Participants
Page 33
RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL
1,376
5
1,076
8
255
2
2,413
11
9,875
173
3,344
39
18,339
238
Customer Service Call Logs
RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL/MULTIFAMILY NEW STARTS FOR 2014
In 2014, there were 2,411 calls to start new Residential service. This increased by 6% over 2013 (2,250
calls). All new customers received the Residential Service Guide that explains MSS Curbside collection
services and programs, debris box rental and document shredding; Marin Resource Recovery Center
drop-off information; Marin Recycling drop-off and buy-back information; and Marin Household
Hazardous Waste drop-off information as well as the HHW Curbside Collection Brochure. Additionally,
there were 183 calls to start new Commercial/MFD service in 2014 compared to 179 in 2013 (0.4%
increase).
RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL/MULTIFAMILY CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
The total call volume increased 32% from 2013 (46,319) to 2014 (68,423). However, the majority of calls
are due to service change requests, inquiries regarding what can and cannot be recycled/composted,
and questions regarding billing. We are proud to report that there are minimal complaint calls from the
customers we serve. Complaint calls have decreased by 2% from 2013-2014 (Table 16). The majority
of complaint calls were for missed collections and containers that were broken. In most cases, the
drivers were able to empty the missed containers on the same service day or the next business day. All
broken containers were either repaired or replaced.
Table 16: Complaints by Type by Service Area 2013-2014
JURISDICTION
Consolidated County of Marin
San Rafael
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District
Ross
Larkspur
San Anselmo
Fairfax
MSS Service Area
MISSED COLLECTIONS
BROKEN CONTAINERS
2013
2014
2013
2014
556
573
383
536
2,249
2,185
1,192
2,170
532
471
376
615
160
115
80
102
330
293
237
703
667
725
261
610
323
419
141
143
4,817
4,781
2,670
4,879
REPORTS OF INJURIES AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY
Marin Sanitary Service has an active safety committee that meets monthly to review accidents and
injuries. The committee includes owners, supervisors, loss control and insurance personnel. Each
department has a tailored safety plan that includes ongoing training and review of new equipment and
procedures, OSHA required. Documented employee safety meetings are held daily, weekly, monthly
and throughout the year with written agendas and handout materials in all departments.
Page 34
All accidents and injuries are investigated in an interactive process with the employee to determine
what factors caused the event. If it is determined that changes to equipment, procedures, or collection
location could prevent a recurrence, corrective action is taken whenever possible. If refresher training
is needed, it is addressed with the entire department. Any claim of damage is investigated immediately
by supervisors and the safety administrator. If the Company is liable, restitution is made to the
owner/customer by either repair at the Company's expense or payment to the owner/customer. Liable
automobile damage is repaired by a reputable, local business and a rental is provided if needed, or
payment is made if the owner/customer prefers.
In 2014, there was a 49% decrease in all reportable injuries and accidents from 2013 totals. Details are
shown in Table 17 below.
Table 17: Injuries and Accidents 2013 compared to 2014
TITLE
Preventable Damage Event
Non -preventable Damage
Event
Work comp injuries
DESCRIPTION
Property or vehicle damage
determined the fault of MSS driver.
Not due to driver negligence and not
fault of any other party. Trees/wires
snagged that are lower than allowed
or damage that driver could not have
avoided, malfunctioning gates closing
on trucks, gate blowing shut, etc.
Injuries on the job defined by OSHA
as work related.
Other minor events that are Minor injury not needing medical
not classified by above. attention, very minor damages
reported by drivers, etc.
GRAND TOTAL
*In 2013, preventable and non -preventable damage events were combined.
Page 35
2014
2013
TOTALS
TOTALS
26
*82
2
NA
7 24
0 48
35 72
Contact Information
Tel 415-458-5514 Tel 415-456-2601 Tel 415-485-5648
Kim.scheibly@marinsanitary.com Neil.roscoe@marinsanitary.com Patty.garbarino@marinsanitary.com
Page 36
ROUTING SLIP / APPROVAL FORM
INSTRUCTIONS: Use this cover sheet with each submittal of a staff report before approval
by the City Council. Save staff report (including this cover sheet) along
with all related attachments in the Team Drive (T:) 4 CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEMS 4 AGENDA ITEM APPROVAL PROCESS 4 [DEPT -
AGENDA TOPIC]
Agenda Item #
Date of Meeting: 1/4/2016
From: Cory Bytof
Department: City Manager
Date: 12/17/2015
Topic: ANNUAL RATE SETTING FOR MARIN SANITARY SERVICE REFUSE RATES
Subject: RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL
ESTABLISHING MAXIMUM RATES COLLECTED BY MARIN SANITARY SERVICE FOR
REFUSE AND RECYCLABLE MATERIAL COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES, TO BE
EFFECTIVE RETROACTIVELY TO JANUARY 1, 2016
Type: ® Resolution ❑ Ordinance
❑ Professional Services Agreement ❑ Other:
APPROVALS
® Finance Director
Remarks: approved
® City Attorney
Remarks: LG -Approved 12/23/15. "Exhibit C" to the Resolution is presented as Attachment
A. Please remember to attach the Exhibit to the final Resolution.
❑ Author, review and accept City Attorney / Finance changes
Remarks:
® City Manager
Remarks:
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
File No.:
Council Meeting:
Disposition:
