Seattle could face utility-rate increases in '09

As food and fuel prices, inflation and a slow economy pummel consumers, Seattle officials Friday proposed a steep increase in both garbage and water rates for next year.

To launch a mandatory food-recycling program, switch to a fleet of garbage trucks that run on natural gas and keep up with its own inflation costs, Seattle Public Utilities proposed rate increases of 29 percent for garbage collection and 18 percent for water next year.

Over two years, garbage rates for an average single-family home would go up 46 percent, and water rates would go up by 40 percent over three years.

Money will weigh heavily on the minds of voters and local leaders this fall. As the City Council decides whether to approve these rate increases, Seattle voters on Nov. 4 will consider proposals by the city to raise property taxes for parks and repairs to Pike Place Market, as well as a bid by Sound Transit to increase the sales tax to extend light rail.

When is enough enough? At least one City Council member, Jan Drago, who voted for the parks and market levies, this week drew the line at a 20-cent fee on disposable bags used at grocery, convenience and drugstores. By passing the fee earlier this week, Drago said the city is sending the message that it does not care about the economic struggles Seattleites are facing.

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said that is "absolutely not" the city's sentiment.

"We know what economic challenges are. We're all working through them too," he said. "The rates are absolutely critical in that people want to ensure that their garbage is collected and that it is recycled and disposed of properly."

If the council passes the garbage- and water-rate increases, the average Seattle single-family home's monthly garbage, water, sewage and stormwater costs would rise from $102 this year to $117 a month in 2009. Bellevue residents paid about $117 for the same services this year.

The garbage rates

Garbage rates would increase from $23 this year to $29.65 per month at the end of March, or by 29 percent, for the typical single-family home that uses a 32-gallon garbage can and 96-gallon yard waste container. By comparison, the average Bellevue single-family household paid $16.83 per month for garbage this year, although Bellevue has not yet proposed new rates for 2009.

In 2010, Seattle garbage collection would increase for the typical single-family home to $33.50, an increase over two years of 46 percent.

The rates reflect new contracts with garbage haulers Waste Management and CleanScapes and a new city policy requiring single-family homes to sign up for weekly food recycling in April. People who compost in their backyard would not have to sign up for the service.

Beginning in April, residents can also stop sorting glass recycling from the plastic- and paper-recycling bin. All items will go in the same bin.

Customers could head off the increase, or even reduce their bill for garbage collection, by switching to smaller garbage cans and recycling more, utility officials say. If a single-family home could downsize from a 32-gallon garbage can to a 20-gallon can and switch their 96-gallon yard- and food-recycling bin for a 32-gallon bin, that customer's rate would not go up in 2009.

"My goal on the solid-waste increase will be to set up the rates so that if people are able to fully take advantage of the new food-waste program, that we will keep their rates as level as possible," said Council President Richard Conlin, chairman of the utilities committee.

Seattle businesses and residents recycled more than 48 percent of their garbage in 2007. The city's goal is to reach 60 percent by 2012. What's not recycled in the city gets shipped to a landfill in Oregon. Seattle Public Utility officials say recycling, rather than shipping the trash elsewhere, costs 50 percent less.

Garbage rates also would go up for apartment buildings and businesses. The average apartment building, which pays $224.80 now per month, would pay $308.45 next year, and $325.77 in 2010, an increase of 45 percent over three years. The average small business that now pays $116.10 per month would pay $151.40 in 2010 and $171.55 in 2011, an increase of 48 percent over three years.

"This environmental agenda is starting to cost a lot of money," said Eugene Wasserman, president of the North Seattle Industrial Association, who was "horrified" by the rate proposals. "The city spends a lot of time worrying about garbage that goes into big open pits in the middle of essentially nowhere."

The water rates

Water rates would go up in January, from $24.61 this year to $29.05 per month, or 18 percent for the average single-family home. That bill would climb to $31.41 in 2010 and $34.52 in 2011, an increase of 40 percent over three years. The rate increase would not impact other cities that Seattle sells water to because those contracts have already been signed.

A convenience store that now pays $67.15 per month for water would pay $79.28 in 2009, $85.69 in 2010 and $94.15 in 2011, an increase of 40 percent over three years. An apartment building that now pays $183.26 would pay $215.94 in 2009, $233.48 in 2010 and $256.46 in 2011, an increase of 40 percent over three years.

Utility officials say much of the new water-rates revenue is needed to make debt payments for new facilities built on the Tolt and Cedar rivers and covering reservoirs in the city to keep drinking water clean and create new park space.

Wasserman, who co-chaired the utilities committee for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, doesn't understand such a large water-rate increase.

"There's no growth in the system," he said. "They aren't adding new suburban clients. They have enough water supply."

The utility plans to offer water-rate assistance to residents whose households make 70 percent or less of the area median income. A household of four people that earns less than $53,813 annually, for instance, would qualify for lower rates. The area median income for a family of four is $76,875.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com