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Mayor Piercy remarked that one of the Sustainability Commission's goals would be zero waste. She was <br />interested in the other green functions schools were engaged in besides recycling. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked when the requirement that people take their cans to the curb was imposed. She said that <br />the haulers used to come up to the house or garage to retrieve cans and wondered how much they had saved <br />by not performing that service. She asked if other cities guaranteed haulers an 11 percent profit. Ms. <br />Young said there had been an additional charge if cans were not brought to the curb for as long as she could <br />remember, but she would check into that. She said that cities approached the issue of profit in a number of <br />ways. She said Eugene calculated it on revenue minus disposal fee; other cities used gross revenue. She <br />said Portland's target was 9.5 percent, but that was on gross revenue and that made a substantial difference. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor wondered why haulers needed an 11 percent profit and asked how that target was set. Ms. <br />Young said during the 1998 rate review a staff advisory committee looked at other comparable cities within <br />the State and made that recommendation. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka explained that in a traditional regulatory pact for a utility, there was a guaranteed rate of return <br />for an exclusive franchise. He said typically the rate of returned range between 10 and 12 percent. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked if there were other costs deducted from the 11 percent rate. Ms. Young said the rate was <br />pre-tax and interest was also deducted. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked if the customer satisfaction survey had been conducted before the rate adjustment in the <br />River Road/Santa Clara area. Ms. Young said it happened in March 2007, before the adjustment. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark commented that the River Road/Santa Clara area had a mix of City and County residents and <br />County collection rates were not regulated. He said at one time, haulers would charge City residents a lower <br />rate comparable to the County rate being charged neighbors, but were now required to charge the City rate. <br />Ms. Young said that enforcement was prompted at the request of a hauler. She did not think the County had <br />raised its rates to be comparable to the City's, but the County did not provide yard debris service as part of <br />the base charge. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark asked how much additional revenue haulers realized as a result of increasing rates in River <br />Road/Santa Clara and if all City residents were now being charged the City rate. Ms. Young replied that <br />she would provide the financial information following the meeting. She believed that all City residents were <br />now being appropriately charged for collection services. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Ms. Young responded that rates were within the CPI <br />(consumer price index) and there had not been a residential rate increase since 2001. She said haulers had <br />been able to achieve a number of efficiencies. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she took issue with the rate-setting and whether or not generators of less waste were <br />paying more per volume or pound than those who generated larger amounts. She also had an issue with the <br />yard debris program, which was a great program except for the fact that people were paying year round <br />when the bulk of yard debris occurred during certain times of the year. She thought it would be preferable <br />to have weekly collection of yard debris during those times and it was unfair to charge residents throughout <br />the year. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />