Same Service- Same Employees

I attended the workshop on Monday night hosted by the Village and Waste Pro. I have found myself thinking about this issue ever since and thought it may be a good idea to relay some of the information either for those who were not able to attend the meeting or as a refresher for those who were there.

A couple of months ago, prior to our Elections when we were vetting our Commissioner candidates, we all knew that we were approaching a difficult period and that difficult decisions needed to be made. And in some incidences, it was past the proper time in making these decisions.

I believe this very thinking is what contributed to the turnover of our Commission and in exploring the options for both annexation and potentially outsourcing our sanitization services. And here is the reason for both; we are running out of money. It’s really no more complicated than that.

Here is an excerpt from an article addressing this very issue: 

In recent years, municipal solid waste departments have faced slack operating budgets, increasing operating costs, rising cost-of-replacement capital expenses and skyrocketing exposure to environmental liability. All of which makes privatization an attractive option. Those that take the plunge find many of the aforementioned headaches disappear.

But first, the powers that be must be convinced. Let’s examine the City of Williston, Fla., which took a calculated risk and was rewarded. Williston had underlying budget issues that put the city $50,000 in the red. The city also required new and updated route trucks and container replacements (sound familiar?) The city manager, decided to put the hauling operations out for bid. The end result of this decision was a $200,000 upswing in the city’s annual budget. The majority of the $200,000 savings was a result of eliminating operating and administration costs. Free to sell its antiquated collection equipment, the city netted an additional $75,000 and eliminated all looming environmental liabilities.

So, with the understanding behind this, let’s look at the benefit package and other comparisons of Waste Pros proposal.

Same Service with Same Employees- Salary Comparison

Waste Pro                                                    Biscayne Park

Driver’s salary= $45,000 *                            $31,000           +$14,000 annual or +45%

Helper’s salary= $38,000 *                           $23,000           +$15,000 annual or +65%

*Based on a 50 hour work week. However, the true hours will be determined based on how long each employee takes to complete their daily route. In other words, it’s the same system as we now use in the Village. So, our guys could potentially receive an immediate raise of between 45-65%.

Other Benefits

Dental, vision, life insurance (company paid) short and long-term disability, supplemental, flexible spending accounts, 401K with 100% company match up to 4%, paid time off, flexible vacation time (based on existing BP service) with any unused vacation pay at year end.

Bonuses

I for one was impressed with the many different bonus and incentives packages Waste Pro has in place for their people. This is part of the difference of what a Company with $420 Million in annual revenues and 70 locations can offer verses our Village stand alone.  Now to the bonuses:

Safety Bonus- (drivers)

      Annual $250 bonus- no claims or accidents, good attendance required 

$10,000 bonus- same criteria as above for a 3 year period 

$50 weekly bonus- no complaints on route. This could result in adding another $200.00 monthly to the already increased salary. 

All employees:

·         $250 (increasing $250 each year) up to a cap of $2,500 annually based on length of service.

Benefits to the Village

• By outsourcing our service the Village would be able to collect a Franchise Fee. Based on Waste Pro’s proposal, the Village would generate NEW REVENUE of $39,000-$77,800.00 annually.
• The Trac-EZ Live Online Program. Real time communication and reports available. Live local customer service- no automation or call center. SAME DAY SERVICE response time.
• Waste Pro-Tection- Community Awareness Program. “See Something, Say Something” type initiative partners with local law enforcement.
• Waste Pro can provide the same service in less time and for less money. Those savings could either be passed on to our residents, or forwarded to the Village for other capital improvements.

When considering privatization, most communities discover not only that they are capable of reducing operating costs, but also that, after making the switch, they are able to expand services for less. Our in-house sanitation fees have increased by 121% over the past 11 years. Clearly, this is not sustainable for those residents on fixed incomes and is an indicator that the current structure is not working.

The question we face is, “Do you prefer to manage a multi-faceted operation and expose yourself to uncontrollably rising costs and liability exposure, or instead manage a single contract that enables the elimination of that exposure thereby reducing those costs?”  

Privatization via a carefully constructed contract allows the municipality to maintain strict oversight of solid waste management while instituting cost controls.


I would think that those in favor of helping “our guys” would encourage them to consider moving up to a professional privately owned company that has more resources and options for them than we will ever have.

This is NOT about losing any alleged Village “charm” any more than was the logic of combining our elections to save much needed resources. Times are changing and we all need to keep up.

This IS all about finding ways to survive and improve the Village for all residents. Once again, we have already been warned that at the current rate of expenses vs. income we have approx. 5 years left before we exhaust our reserve fund.

I think we should all think of the big future picture and the reasons behind this proposal in the first place.
 


Milton Hunter
Biscayne Park Resident