It's a Stinky Problem
The biggest “uh-oh” issue of my first couple of weeks on the job is the fact that the County’s Solid Waste hauling contract – essentially the granting of a monopoly by County government for what is now a mandatory service in unincorporated Ada County – will expire shortly. BFI/Allied Waste/Republic (they’ve changed hands several times, but it’s still the same company) has had the contract since 1994.
I was the citizen member on the County’s Solid Waste Contract Advisory Committee when BFI was first chosen. I was a Commissioner in 2002, when the contract was extended. The company has done a good job serving the people of Ada County, but a 14-year run as the sole source provider for a mandatory service is long enough. It’s time to put the contract out for another bid.
So what’s the problem? According to the Landfill Director and the trash hauler’s representatives, if we do put the contract out for bid, they say that rates will increase more than they will if we simply extend the contract for another ten years. To me, this sounds like extortion: give it to us, or we’ll jack up your prices.
It is counter-intuitive to believe that rates will increase if we put a contract out for a bid. It’s also not what I learned in Economics 101 in college. The flip side is the reality that there aren’t a lot of trash haulers in this area -- so competition could be limited. There is SSC in Meridian and J & M out in Kuna. There are other large trash haulers in the country, but they do not already have yards established here, from which to run their operations; a factor that could drive up their cost of doing business.
My approach to this situation: I am trying to find out from other trash haulers how much interest there is in bidding on the contract to service unincorporated Ada County. One of the country's larger publicly traded trash haulers that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Waste Connections, has expressed interest in bidding on the Ada County contract.
In my new position, there are no guarantees. We simply have to make the best decisions we can based on what we know at the time, hope we’ve done the best we can for taxpayers, and move on. If you have any thoughts on whether to extend BFI/Allied Waste/Republic’s contract for another ten years, or whether to re-bid the contract anew, please do not hesitate to let my colleagues and me know. You can reach me via the link here on my blog, by my county e-mail at sharonu@adaweb.net, by letter to the Board of Ada County Commissioners, 200 W. Front Street, Boise, ID, 83702, or by telephone call to (208) 287-7001. Your input is always valued. Thank you.
posted by Sharon Ullman @ 8:51 PM
6 Comments:
A couple of observation. Depression is the opposite of inflation. Any vendor that claims they need a rate increase because prices are going up is lying.
Second, competition may or may not lead to lower prices in situations such as this. However, unless you try, you will never know. In other words, you can't win if you don't enter the game.
I agree that putting it out to bid is absolutely neccessary. Don't give in to threats from the current holder of the contract, of course, their best interest is not my best interest. I took some interesting photos of a BFI trash hauler throwing a tantrum while in front of a house on my street in December. He threw the trashcans at the house and broke a yard light. I called the company to report the incident and the dispatcher laughed - and put me through to a voicemail of a "manager," who never returned my call. They need some shaking up.
As an engineer that must bid on every project that we wish to work on, I am very supportive of the bid process. Allied Waste doesn't want competition so they can set their rates according to their whims. During the course of my career I have been a part of several client relationships that were long term and exclusive. However, the client made it clear that they would still get bids on a small number of jobs to make sure that we were competitive. We surely didn't demand that they didn't seek outside bids and we most certainly did not threaten to raise our rates if they did. In my professional opinion that is extortion and I would be subject to an ethical review.
If Allied Waste is so sure that their bid will come out lowest, they should have no worries and they should welcome the competition to show Ada County that they have been the best solution the past 14+ years. However, if they do get beat, it will show that they have been less than honorable and the door should be shown as quickly as possible.
It is of the utmost importance for Ada County residents to know that other qualified waste management firms would submit proposals for such a contract. I have a well-founded opinion that officials and ratepayers alike can expect the results of the proposal process to be favorable.
Our organization, Western Waste Services, is an integrated solid waste management service provider. We have successfully managed trash and recycling collection programs for the cities of Boise, Mountain Home, Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls and a number of smaller municipalities.
It is quite obvious to me (and my fellow industry professionals) that Idaho supports an adequate number of capable, Idaho-based waste enterprises. I believe the potential benefits far outweigh any perceived risk associated with Ada County exercising their option to seek proposals.
I can assure Ada County ratepayers that Western Waste Services would respond to an RFP.
I've called BFI several times trying to find out why I get charged the same as a neighbor who puts out 6-8 cans a week minimum and I seldom put out more than one bag. The rude answer I received was,"that is just the way it is!" I also recycle and they don't! I realize I get a "feel good" break for recycling, but it doesn't help when they are continuing to raise fees. As someone once said, "It's time for a change"!
Wouldn't it be the... Ada County Commission and its contract with BFI that determines whether you pay by the can, or ton, or whatever, or whether it's a flat fee?
We live in the city, and would be quite happy to pay per pound. We put out one can every 2nd or 3rd week.
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