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Ocala work session moves to end curbside single‑stream recycling and trims proposed sanitation rate hike
Summary
At a Jan. 13 Ocala City Council work session, staff and consultant Raftelis outlined a two‑year sanitation rate plan and presented options to end curbside single‑stream recycling. Council members agreed by consensus to pursue eliminating curbside recycling (targeting a July 1 transition), approve a two‑year phase‑in of rates and direct staff to reinstate drop‑off sites and prepare outreach.
Ocala officials signaled an end to curbside single‑stream recycling and adjusted parts of a proposed sanitation rate increase after a Jan. 13 work session where consultants laid out financial models and tradeoffs.
Darren Park, public works director, opened the presentation and turned the session over to consultant Terry Bovary of Raftelis, who summarized the November rate study and the options the council had requested: delaying the rate increases, phasing Trinity Villas to the multifamily rate, and analyzing the impact of eliminating curbside single‑stream recycling. "If we were to eliminate the recycling, [the contractor] would have about a $1,600,000 per year reduction," Bovary said, while noting an estimated $200,000 per year increase in landfill/disposal costs and a conservative one‑time allowance of about $1,000,000 for additional carts.
The consultant presented a two‑year phase‑in approach for rates for residential customers, saying the plan would prevent the enterprise fund from going negative and preserve roughly 90 days of working capital. He estimated the typical…
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