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Phone: 530-757-5686
Email: pwweb@cityofdavis.org
Address: Public Works Corporation Yard; 1717 Fifth Street, Davis, CA 95616
Hours: Monday – Friday; 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Solid Waste Rates

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Solid Waste Service Rates

Current Solid Waste Rates

What makes up the solid waste rates?

The costs associated with the solid waste rates are made up primarily of four parts:

The franchise agreement the city holds with the waste hauler (Recology Davis) for garbage, recycling, organics collection and street sweeping, which includes landfill tipping fees, etc. The agreement accounts for 86% of the total cost of the solid waste program.
The cost of the city’s Solid Waste and Diversion Programs, many of which are mandated by State regulations. These programs account for 7% of the total cost.
Other associated city administrative costs (costs for billing, etc.)These costs are 5% of the program.
The reserve/debt service coverage requirements, which account for the last 2% of the program.

Solid Waste Rate Adjustment Process - 2019

The City adjusted the Solid Waste utility rates in 2019 as the expenditures for the program have exceeded revenue. The city completed a Solid Waste Rate Study to provide direction on how best to ensure fiscal sustainability for the Solid Waste utility moving forward.

On December 4, 2018 the City Council approved the solid waste rate Proposition 218 notices for single-family and commercial/multi-family customers. The notices were mailed out to all city solid waste customers.

December 4, 2018 City Council Meeting agenda

07 - Solid Waste Rate Study and Proposition 218 Utility Rate Information

2018 Notice of rate increase: Single-Family Residential rates
2018 Notice of rate increase: Commercial and Multi-Family Residential rates

At the February 5, 2019 meeting, City Council approved the proposed rates, but directed staff to space out the first and second year’s planned rate adjustments so that the first rate adjustment occurs on March 1, 2019, but the second year rate adjustment was scheduled to take place on June 1, 2020 at the earliest.

February 5, 2019 City Council Meeting Agenda

04 - Solid Waste Rate Proposition 218 Public Hearing and Rate Recommendations

The chart below shows the maximum increases for single-family residential customers of each subscription level. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated economic impacts, Council postponed the June 1, 2020 Solid Waste rate increase, leaving rates for the utility flat for an additional six months. In December 2020, the City Council approved rate adjustments for January and July 2021.

Single Family Garbage Cart Size	2018 Rates	Current Rate Effective March 1, 2019 (13.5%)	Maximum Rate Effective January 2021 (12%)	Maximum Rate Effective July 2021 (6%)	Maximum Rate Effective January 2022 (5%)	Maximum Rate Effective January 2023 (5%)
35-Gallon	$ 31.00	$ 35.19	$ 39.41	$ 41.78	$ 43.87	$ 46.06
65-Gallon	$ 34.32	$ 38.95	$ 43.62	$ 46.24	$ 48.55	$ 50.98
95-Gallon	$ 40.94	$ 46.47	$ 52.05	$ 55.17	$ 57.93	$ 60.83

How long are these rates for?

These are maximum rate adjustments over the next 5 years. Should future changes to the solid waste service result in lower operational costs, the Council could decide to set rates lower than the maximums.

Council also directed staff to update the Solid Waste financial plan each year with actual costs, revisiting all associated costs of the utility on an annual basis. Staff will return to Council each year with a rate recommendation within the maximum set through this process. These fund reviews and rate recommendations are included below.

Why did the solid waste rates increase?

The solid waste program was in deficit. There are a number of reasons why the program’s expenditures were exceeding revenues, and they were detailed in the December 4, 2018 staff report presented to Council on the solid waste rates. The increases were not the result of the Recology Davis’ acquisition of Davis Waste Removal (DWR), as per contract those costs are not allowed to be passed on to customers. The factors impacting the fund briefly include:

The increase in landfill costs that Recology passes through to the city when depositing the waste at the landfill;
Repayment of a $3M loan from the city’s wastewater fund for continued operation;
Balancing costs associated with the organics collection program the city introduced in 2016. When implemented, customer rates were not increased for organics collection, as it was assumed the additional cost could be covered by an existing fund balance until a rate study could be conducted with data from the implementation. Ultimately, the rates approved in 2013 could not support the program expenditures; and
As the beginning of a larger plan for the future of the City’s solid waste services, a number of longer-term costs and the development of a larger reserve as a rate-stabilization buffer and protection against unanticipated costs are built into the rates. The goals for these long-term accounts is to build them over many years, reducing the overall impact on customers.