Slight Refund on Your Next Trash Bill

San Juan Capistrano residents will notice a refund on their next quarterly trash bill.

The one-time refund for residential customers will range from 86 cents to $10.44, depending on how many trash bins the home has, Dean Ruffridge, senior vice president of solid waste for , told Patch.

Ruffridge said the refund is due because of an “honest mistake in a spreadsheet.”

Resident Ian Smith caught the error, according to City Councilman Sam Allevato.

“They overcharged by the thousands,” Smith told the council Tuesday night. He caught the mistake in 2009 and criticized city staffers for not catching it themselves.

“We cannot trust their accounting or city staff to protect our interests,” Smith said.

Councilman Derek Reeve put CR&R on the agenda Tuesday. He wanted to call attention to the trash hauler’s contract with the city, which requires a five-year notice if the city wants to cancel it.

City Manager Karen Brust explained that the city cannot give its five-year notice until 2014. Although the contract runs through 2019, each year after 2014, it automatically adds another year to the term, always keeping the five-year-notice rule intact.

“In that case, we’re kind of stuck,” Reeve said, adding that a contract with the five-year notice is not in the city’s best interest.

It is not, however, uncommon, Ruffridge said. Some cities have 10-year notices, or more. Creditors need to see long-term commitments before they’ll lend the company money to upgrade to the latest technologies, he said.

The city first entered into contract with CR&R, then known as Solag Disposal, in 1996. It most recently updated its contract in 2010. Five percent of all rates are returned to the city in the form of a franchise fee.

An by Michael Balliet Consulting showed that Orange County cities charge haulers between 2.72 percent (in Aliso Viejo) and 17.3 percent (in Costa Mesa) in franchise fees.

Interestingly, the cities that don’t require a fee for residential trash pickup do not necessarily see the lowest rates, according to a survey by HF&H Consultants of Walnut Creek.

San Juan Capistrano’s residential rates are in the mid-range compared with other county cities, the survey shows. Commercial rates in the city are in the lower third among local cities.

The council decided that even though it could not give notice until 2014 about wanting to go out to bid for trash services, it would approach CR&R officials just the same to see if they are willing to talk about the contract.

“I have nothing against CR&R,” Reeve said. But a service provider that has a five-year notice built into its contract is in the “driver’s seat” when it comes to negotiating with a City Council that can see members come and go every two years, he said.