Broomfield council reviews options to reimburse residents for trash-service cancellation fees

Broomfield city staff on Monday presented council with options to reimburse residents who must pay cancellation or cart-removal fees to private haulers when they switch to the city’s new contracted residential waste program.

The presentation was delivered by Allison Harvey, deputy director of Library, Arts and History, who told the council the memo in their packets is out of date on one key point: Republic Services has told staff it will credit Republic customers who cancel service to join the city program. Harvey said Waste Management customers in Broomfield still face a cart removal fee and staff used a conservative $75 per household figure for budget estimates although Waste Management has reported a $65 fee in some accounts.

Harvey told council the program applies to single-family homes and multifamily buildings with seven units or fewer that are not covered by HOA contracts — roughly 9,600 households in Broomfield. The rollout schedule includes cart deployment starting so services can begin March 31; participants will receive welcome packets before carts arrive. Seniors, active military and veterans are eligible for a 10% discount but must contact the operator, Waste Connections, to enroll.

Why it matters: several residents who did not have HO A trash contracts will have to cancel private service to move to the municipal program. Some haulers charge a per-cart removal fee or a flat cart-collection fee; staff presented five options that range from full reimbursement for all affected households to no reimbursement, and a targeted option limited to low‑income households and seniors.

Key details from staff’s analysis

- Eligible population: about 9,600 households (single-family and small multifamily not in HOAs). Staff’s opt‑out rate in the slide deck was roughly 8 percent but that figure is based on about half of eligible households having submitted a cart-size/opt‑out form; medium-size carts are assigned by default to nonresponding households.

- Hauler fees: Waste Management told staff it charges a cart-removal fee for its roughly 3,000 non‑HOA customers in Broomfield; staff used $75 for budgeting though Waste Management has also reported $65 in some cases. Republic Services charges per cart but has said it will issue credits to customers who cancel to join the city program.

- Budget estimates presented (maximum impacts used for planning): 100% reimbursement — about $225,000; 75% — about $169,000; 50% — about $112,000; targeted 100% reimbursement for households at or below 60% AMI and seniors 65+ — about $67,500; and option 5 — no reimbursement (no direct program cost). These figures do not include additional staff costs and would require a budget amendment if council directs a reimbursement program.

- Staffing: staff estimated options 1–3 would require roughly 1,500 hours of staff time (spread over a few months) to process applications and issue credits; option 4 would require roughly 900 hours because eligibility checks for income or age are more time‑consuming. Staff said the work would likely be performed by limited‑term appointments; the total additional personnel cost for those positions was later clarified to be about $157,051 for the term positions the council previously authorized.

- Operational mechanics proposed: residents would submit a form and proof of payment (receipt or invoice) for the cancellation/cart fee; staff would determine eligibility and, if approved, apply a credit to the resident’s water bill within about 60 days (staff would identify alternate payment methods for residents who do not have city water billing).

Legal and implementation risks

City Attorney Rogers cautioned that paying operators directly — an approach recommended by the Advisory Committee for Environmental Sustainability (ACES) — is legally possible but operationally complex. Rogers said a side payment to an operator would not erase the underlying private agreement between a resident and their hauler and could put the city in the middle of disputes between residents and their haulers.

Council reaction and next steps

Council members asked for more detail on funding sources, timing and which households would be eligible. Several members said they wanted staff to pursue additional conversations with haulers and to return with clearer numbers after carts are deployed and more residents have responded. Council discussion did not produce a formal motion or change to the budget; staff said any reimbursement program would require a budget amendment or funding from cost savings.

Council members expressed a range of views: several members signaled support for option 4 (targeted 100% reimbursement for households at or below 60% AMI and seniors 65+), citing the priority of assisting lower‑income residents; other members preferred no universal reimbursement and urged prioritizing fixes to unintended contract outcomes instead of funding broad reimbursement. Several members emphasized the need for further outreach and clearer numbers after the March 31 rollout date.

Staff said it will continue to take requests for future action from council (for example, code amendments or reopening contract negotiations with Waste Connections) but cautioned that reopening contract terms could affect contractor pricing and that haulers could decline changes.

What the city plans to do next

Staff will continue resident outreach and follow up with haulers about credits and fee policies, update budget figures when more data are available after cart deployment, and return to council with additional analysis and implementation options if directed. Residents with immediate questions were told to contact their hauler (Republic customers who canceled should call Republic to pursue the posted credit) and the city’s sustainability team for program information.