Town of Apple Valley Notice of Public Hearing Regarding Proposed Increase to Solid Waste Rates

JULY 27, 2021 at 6:30 P.M.

Town Hall Council Chambers 14955 Dale Evans Parkway Apple Valley, CA 92307

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town of Apple Valley (the Town) will hold a Public Hearing on July 27, 2021, at 6:30 p.m., at the Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 14955 Dale Evans Parkway, Apple Valley, CA 92307 to consider adopting rate increases for the collection, handling, and disposal of solid waste services within the Town (solid waste services). The meeting can also be viewed on Frontier Channel 29, Charter Spectrum Channel 186, and online at applevalley.tv.

Persons wishing to address the Council remotely may submit written comments or speak. To submit written comments, please email the Town Clerk at [email protected] by 12 p.m. on July 27, 2021, and indicate whether you want your comments to be read aloud or forwarded to Council. Written comments will be read for up to 3 minutes. To speak, please email [email protected] and at the time of the requested agenda item, the Town Clerk will place a call to the commenter and allow the person to speak to the Council via speakerphone during the live meeting for up to 3 minutes. This 45-day notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 6(a) of Article XIII D of the California Constitution.

Proposed Rate Increases

Burrtec Waste Industries (Burrtec) provides solid waste services within the Town pursuant to an exclusive franchise agreement. All properties within the Town are required to subscribe to the solid waste services provided by Burrtec unless they are expressly exempt under the Apple Valley Municipal Code. Pursuant to the franchise agreement, solid waste service fees are imposed on customers within the Town who receive solid waste services from Burrtec. The Town bills the customers directly for the services on a bi-monthly basis. The revenues from these fees are used to pay for the solid waste programs provided by the Town and services provided by Burrtec under the franchise agreement.

The rate structure for the solid waste service fees has three customer classes — residential, multi-family, and commercial. For residential customers, the solid waste service fees are calculated based on the size (e.g., gallons or cubic yards) of containers used. For multi-family and commercial customers, the solid waste service fees are calculated on the basis of the size (e.g., gallons or cubic yards) of the containers (i.e., bins or roll compacters) used and the number of pick-ups per week. Customers may also request the delivery of temporary extra bins to their property. A separate, temporary bin delivery fee is a fixed charge imposed on any customer who requests these services.

To recover the increased costs of providing solid waste services as described above, including to account for inflation, and implement commercial food waste recycling as required by state law, the Town has determined that it is necessary to increase its solid waste rates. The 1.62% inflationary increase for service and administration is based on the twelve-month average change in 2020 in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the U.S. Department of Labor for Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (previously named Los-Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA). The food waste service fees will increase by $0.13 per yard to $0.25 per yard and the food waste processing fees will increase by $0.49 per yard to $0.97 per yard for commercial businesses.

If adopted, the proposed monthly rates will take effect on August 1, 2021. The current and proposed bi-monthly rates and supporting rate worksheets for the solid waste service fees are set forth in Exhibit A hereto.

Public Hearing and Protests

The owner of record of any parcel upon which the proposed solid waste service fees are proposed to be imposed or any tenant directly responsible for the payment of solid waste service fees (i.e., the customer of record) may submit a written protest to the proposed rate increase; however, only one protest will be counted per identified parcel. Any written protest must: (1) state the protest is being submitted in opposition to the proposed rate increase; (2) provide the location of the identified parcel (by assessor’s parcel or street address); and, (3) include the name and signature of the property owner or tenant directly responsible for the payment of the solid waste service fees submitting the protest. Written protests may be submitted by mail or in-person to the Town Clerk at Town of Apple Valley, 14955 Dale Evans Parkway, Apple Valley, CA 92307. The Town Clerk must receive written protests delivered by mail no later than 5:00 p.m. on the date of the Public Hearing, or if delivered in person, prior to the close of the public comment portion of the Public Hearing (date, time, and location noted above). Any protest submitted via e-mail or other electronic means will not be accepted. Any written protests received following the close of the public hearing will not be counted. Please identify on the front of the envelope for any protest, whether mailed or submitted in person to the Town Clerk, Attn: Public Hearing on Rate Increases.

The Town Council will consider all written protests and hear and consider all oral comments to the proposed rate increases and annual rate adjustments at the Public Hearing. Oral comments at the Public Hearing will not qualify as formal protests unless accompanied by a written protest. Upon the conclusion of the Public Hearing, the Town Council will consider the adoption of the rate increases to the Town’s solid waste service fees as described herein. If written protests against the proposed rate increases are not presented by a majority of the property owners (50% + 1) of the identified parcels upon which the rates are proposed to be imposed and tenants directly responsible for the payment of the solid waste service fees, the Town Council will be authorized to impose the rate increases as outlined above. If adopted, the proposed rate increases will take effect beginning August 1, 2021. The Town is conducting this Proposition 218 majority protest proceeding out of an abundance of caution and without conceding the applicability of Proposition 218 to the franchise agreement or solid waste service provided by Burrtec.

If you have questions regarding this notice or how your rates will be affected, you may contact Guy Eisenbrey at (760) 240-7000 ext. 7548 or visit www.applevalley.org/services/solid-waste-trash.