Petition to Stop the Proposed 15% City of Davis Solid Waste Utility Rate Increase.
The Issue
City of Davis Ratepayers deserve to have accurate objective information regarding solid waste rates if the City intends to ask them to accept an increase to those rates at the January 6th Public Hearing. Unfortunately, ratepayers have not been given that objective information. They have been misinformed.
We are expressing concerns we have with respect to City Staff’s recommended two-year extension to Recology’s solid waste collection franchise and the City Council’s approval of that extension at its September 16th City Council Meeting.
As the City commission with responsibility for looking out for the financial best interests of the City’s ratepayers, we trust you will do just that. We respectfully ask that you add this item to the Agenda for your December 3rd meeting. Your public review of this matter at your December 3rd meeting is critical, as it is the Commission’s last meeting before the January 6th Proposition 218 Public Rate Hearing. As such, it is the last opportunity the Commission will have to weigh in on this matter before that public hearing and provide the ratepayers with objective information critical to their ability to make an informed decision as to the City’s proposed rate increase.
Staff’s Misleading Solid Waste Rate Survey and Recommended Two-Year Extension of Recology Contract Will Cost Davis Ratepayers Millions.
At its September 16, 2025 City Council meeting, following Staff’s recommendation, the Council approved a two-year extension to Recology’s solid waste collection franchise. The City is proposing a 15% rate increase in 2026, followed by a maximum annual increase of 6.5% from 2026 through 2029 and a maximum increase of 3% in 2030.
The rationale for that extension was based on misleading information presented by Staff to the City Council and ratepayers as to how Davis’ rates compare to surrounding communities. Staff’s rate comparison found that the City of Davis’ solid waste rates are lower than our “surrounding” communities when just the opposite is true. The City of Davis’ solid waste rates are among the highest in Yolo, Solano, and Sacramento Counties.
That two-year extension will cost ratepayers millions of dollars that they would not otherwise have had to pay had Staff provided objective information on how our rates compare to our surrounding communities. Had it done that, the proper recommendation to Council should have been to not extend the contract with Recology and immediately begin a competitive procurement process to secure a private sector hauler for our solid waste collection franchise. This course of action is exactly what the City of West Sacramento is currently doing. If as a result of that competitive process, we select Recology that would be fine, but it would bring competitive forces to bear on controlling rates.
Staff’s rate survey to determine how our rates compare to our “surrounding communities” (Staff’s words), included Berkeley, San Francisco and Santa Barbara--all geographically distant and very different--and all with rates much higher than Davis. Santa Barbara is 399 miles away! At the same time, they left out our actual surrounding communities including West Sacramento, Winters, Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield or any of the jurisdictions in Sacramento that have private haulers like Davis. All of which have lower rates than Davis. Figure 1 shows how these local rates compare to those chosen for Staff’s survey. The local average rate is $39.37 per month compared to $66.88 in the Staff presentation.
While there are many legitimate reasons for differences in rates, the fact that our rates are significantly higher than current market rates is primarily due to the simple fact that the City of Davis has not allowed our solid waste rates to be subject to the pressure of the marketplace through a competitive procurement process. Starting with Davis Waste Removal through Recology rates have been set through a “cost plus” mechanism without any market competition. That has led to our current rates being significantly higher than the market.
On February 1, 2026 the City of Davis’s 60-gallon rate will be $14 dollars more than the City of Woodland’s 60-gallon rate for largely similar services. In fact, one could argue that Woodland now has more service than Davis, with its new “At-Your-Door” curbside collection of household hazardous waste and difficult to recycle materials.
Rather than undertake a process to secure market rates for the ratepayers, the City Council just extended our much-higher than local market rates for two more years. Staff’s explanation for why Recology’s agreement needed to be extended two years is just as flawed as its survey. If it takes two years to do the things that Staff listed they needed to do, they should have started two years ago (i.e., review current service levels, survey residents on their preferences, allow careful negotiation of a successful hauling contract).
City Council will conduct a Public Hearing on January 6, 2026 to approve the proposed -5-Year rate schedule that includes fifteen percent (15%) proposed first-year rate increase, and maximum rate increases over the following four years. While every residential and commercial ratepayer has the opportunity to protest those rate increases, accomplishing that task is difficult and has only happened in small communities. It takes 50% of property owners plus one (1) to submit written protests to stop the increase. That does not mean residents and businesses in Davis have to live with higher-than-market solid waste rates for one day more than we need to.
If you agree, on January 6, 2026 you should protest any City Council action to approve a rate increase that does not include a “rock solid” assurance from the Council that our solid waste collection franchise with Recology will not be extended one-day-more. Instead, the City should commit to competitively procure a private sector service provider for our solid waste collection franchisebe that Recology, Waste Management, Republic Services, Atlas Disposal or another qualified party. The City’s competitive procurement process should begin no later than 24-months (December 2027) before the end of the now current term in December 2029. That would provide sufficient time to successfully complete the procurement process and for the selected contractor to order and receive all necessary equipment (e.g., garbage trucks).
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The Issue
City of Davis Ratepayers deserve to have accurate objective information regarding solid waste rates if the City intends to ask them to accept an increase to those rates at the January 6th Public Hearing. Unfortunately, ratepayers have not been given that objective information. They have been misinformed.
We are expressing concerns we have with respect to City Staff’s recommended two-year extension to Recology’s solid waste collection franchise and the City Council’s approval of that extension at its September 16th City Council Meeting.
As the City commission with responsibility for looking out for the financial best interests of the City’s ratepayers, we trust you will do just that. We respectfully ask that you add this item to the Agenda for your December 3rd meeting. Your public review of this matter at your December 3rd meeting is critical, as it is the Commission’s last meeting before the January 6th Proposition 218 Public Rate Hearing. As such, it is the last opportunity the Commission will have to weigh in on this matter before that public hearing and provide the ratepayers with objective information critical to their ability to make an informed decision as to the City’s proposed rate increase.
Staff’s Misleading Solid Waste Rate Survey and Recommended Two-Year Extension of Recology Contract Will Cost Davis Ratepayers Millions.
At its September 16, 2025 City Council meeting, following Staff’s recommendation, the Council approved a two-year extension to Recology’s solid waste collection franchise. The City is proposing a 15% rate increase in 2026, followed by a maximum annual increase of 6.5% from 2026 through 2029 and a maximum increase of 3% in 2030.
The rationale for that extension was based on misleading information presented by Staff to the City Council and ratepayers as to how Davis’ rates compare to surrounding communities. Staff’s rate comparison found that the City of Davis’ solid waste rates are lower than our “surrounding” communities when just the opposite is true. The City of Davis’ solid waste rates are among the highest in Yolo, Solano, and Sacramento Counties.
That two-year extension will cost ratepayers millions of dollars that they would not otherwise have had to pay had Staff provided objective information on how our rates compare to our surrounding communities. Had it done that, the proper recommendation to Council should have been to not extend the contract with Recology and immediately begin a competitive procurement process to secure a private sector hauler for our solid waste collection franchise. This course of action is exactly what the City of West Sacramento is currently doing. If as a result of that competitive process, we select Recology that would be fine, but it would bring competitive forces to bear on controlling rates.
Staff’s rate survey to determine how our rates compare to our “surrounding communities” (Staff’s words), included Berkeley, San Francisco and Santa Barbara--all geographically distant and very different--and all with rates much higher than Davis. Santa Barbara is 399 miles away! At the same time, they left out our actual surrounding communities including West Sacramento, Winters, Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield or any of the jurisdictions in Sacramento that have private haulers like Davis. All of which have lower rates than Davis. Figure 1 shows how these local rates compare to those chosen for Staff’s survey. The local average rate is $39.37 per month compared to $66.88 in the Staff presentation.
While there are many legitimate reasons for differences in rates, the fact that our rates are significantly higher than current market rates is primarily due to the simple fact that the City of Davis has not allowed our solid waste rates to be subject to the pressure of the marketplace through a competitive procurement process. Starting with Davis Waste Removal through Recology rates have been set through a “cost plus” mechanism without any market competition. That has led to our current rates being significantly higher than the market.
On February 1, 2026 the City of Davis’s 60-gallon rate will be $14 dollars more than the City of Woodland’s 60-gallon rate for largely similar services. In fact, one could argue that Woodland now has more service than Davis, with its new “At-Your-Door” curbside collection of household hazardous waste and difficult to recycle materials.
Rather than undertake a process to secure market rates for the ratepayers, the City Council just extended our much-higher than local market rates for two more years. Staff’s explanation for why Recology’s agreement needed to be extended two years is just as flawed as its survey. If it takes two years to do the things that Staff listed they needed to do, they should have started two years ago (i.e., review current service levels, survey residents on their preferences, allow careful negotiation of a successful hauling contract).
City Council will conduct a Public Hearing on January 6, 2026 to approve the proposed -5-Year rate schedule that includes fifteen percent (15%) proposed first-year rate increase, and maximum rate increases over the following four years. While every residential and commercial ratepayer has the opportunity to protest those rate increases, accomplishing that task is difficult and has only happened in small communities. It takes 50% of property owners plus one (1) to submit written protests to stop the increase. That does not mean residents and businesses in Davis have to live with higher-than-market solid waste rates for one day more than we need to.
If you agree, on January 6, 2026 you should protest any City Council action to approve a rate increase that does not include a “rock solid” assurance from the Council that our solid waste collection franchise with Recology will not be extended one-day-more. Instead, the City should commit to competitively procure a private sector service provider for our solid waste collection franchisebe that Recology, Waste Management, Republic Services, Atlas Disposal or another qualified party. The City’s competitive procurement process should begin no later than 24-months (December 2027) before the end of the now current term in December 2029. That would provide sufficient time to successfully complete the procurement process and for the selected contractor to order and receive all necessary equipment (e.g., garbage trucks).
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Petition created on November 24, 2025