Council opens renegotiation of Boulder City Disposal franchise; staff to run business‑impact study on proposed rate changes

Boulder City councilors directed staff to begin formal negotiations to amend the city’s franchise agreement with Boulder City Disposal (BCD) and to prepare a statutorily required business‑impact statement for proposed changes to commercial recycling charges and overall rate adjustments.

City staff summarized 10 categories of proposed changes the hauler has requested to a long‑standing contract, including removing a 4% annual cap on CPI adjustments and, separately, a one‑time “make‑whole” increase to account for past years when CPI exceeded the cap; who pays for daily park can pickup; whether to charge commercial customers for recycling; audit and financial‑assurance requirements for landfill closure; holiday schedule adjustments; and transfer/assignment provisions. The operator, Robert Martello of Boulder City Disposal, told the council that the company has been absorbing higher costs and that the current agreement “is a long time ago” contract that needs updating.

Staff and the operator supplied several concrete figures for the council to consider. The city manager said the current residential collection rate effective this July was $16.72 per month, with a $1.50 landfill maintenance fee, for a total of $18.22 per household. Staff presented example scenarios prepared with BCD showing an 8% total increase raising the household charge by about $1.34 (to $19.56 total), a 10% case to $19.89, and a 12% case to roughly $20.23. On park cans, staff estimated an in‑house city cost of about $192,000 per year to assume pickup operations; BCD proposed roughly $8,520 per month (about $102,000/year) to continue the park route.

Robert Martello, BCD’s general manager, told council the firm has invested heavily in the landfill and that rising equipment and labor costs make the contract terms hard to sustain. “The contract that we got into a long time ago wasn't a very good contract, unfortunately,” Martello said, adding BCD’s interest in updating language on holidays, financial assurance, and reasonable rate adjustments.

Councilmembers emphasized protecting ratepayers and getting documentation supporting BCD’s revenue claims. A public speaker asked the city to obtain and publish the operator’s annual financial statements for the last five years before approval of any rate increases so the public can see revenue requirements and acceptable profit margins.

What the council directed: staff will prepare and circulate the business‑impact statement (20 working days for comments) for commercial recycling fees and for the rate range the council asked be analyzed (examples used in staff slides were 8–12%). Staff will negotiate contract language with BCD and work with the city attorney to draft a bill that can be introduced once the business‑impact process is complete; council indicated a target to consider the matter in February and suggested using the business‑impact feedback to set a final rate recommendation.

What remains open: final contract language (including any milestone triggers or safeguards), the amount of any one‑time adjustment, and exactly how the city will treat the landfill financial‑assurance mechanism (the city and BCD discussed alternatives to a $500,000 letter of credit, including using the city’s landfill maintenance fund and alternative mechanisms approved by the Southern Nevada Health District).