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Committee approves revised Resource Recovery Special Charge rate and Streets Division budget amendment
Summary
The committee approved a revised 2026 Resource Recovery Special Charge rate and amended the Streets Division operating budget to cover a projected shortfall tied to lower commodity revenue and higher diesel and personnel costs; staff said the $125,000 projected shortfall reflects a loss of prior one-time surplus and market weakness in paper commodities.
The Madison Finance Committee voted to approve a revised rate for the 2026 Resource Recovery Special Charge (RSC) and an amendment to the Streets Division operating budget after staff explained a combination of falling commodity values and increased fuel and personnel costs.
Alder Revere asked for detail on a roughly $125,000 projected revenue loss associated with the city’s contract with its commodities processor. Streets Division staff (Roger Kleist) said the change reflects the loss of a prior-year surplus that had been cushioning the fund combined with weaker commodity markets and higher tipping and operational costs: "We had a surplus in revenue in the past, and that's to cover up the last 5 months of the year that we won't have that surplus anymore... it's a combination over the last year of the commodities tanking, and then losing that little extra revenue we had as a cushion and then just added costs." Brian Bridal, the resource-recovery specialist, explained that most of the material is paper and cardboard and that demand and value for those materials have been soft, which drives the revenue pressure.
Staff said diesel fuel cost increases are a major driver of the overall Streets Division budget pressure and that some salary savings targets could not be realized because RSC bills actuals and the service level was not reduced. The committee recorded a unanimous vote in favor.
