Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill14564
May need to increase fees? It looks like it happened. My sanitation fee has increased on my latest bill, just as it has every October. At least the increase was less than a dollar this time rather than the $1.50 and $2.80 increases from a few years ago.
I like the sentiment of your message. Hopefully, the board can make it happen.
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I thank you for your kind remarks. No board discussion after my remarks but I am hopeful that we can do better. The increase in trash pickup rates was approved. It is described below and the private firm also increased rates.
" As discussed at the NSCUDD Board Meeting in August 2022, the increase in District contract fuel costs is projected to result in a budgetary impact (loss) of $165,000 to the Sumter Sanitation Fund. If the Board wished to recover this cost by way of a temporary fuel surcharge to residents and commercial customers, the monthly recovery rate would be $0.34. This is based on the number of residential and commercial accounts and assumes a 9-month recovery period to be effective January 1, 2023 and ending with the September 2023 billing cycle. Jacobs obtains fuel for the Sumter Sanitation fleet from the District-owned fuel depot at District contract pricing, which is contractually set through September 30, 2023. Similarly, Tri-County Sanitation recently implemented a temporary fuel surcharge for all accounts south of SR-44 within The Villages. "
and
"On July 11, 2022, Amendment No. 10 was approved by the NSCUDD Board setting the total monthly fee for FY 2022-23. This amendment reflected a 4% increase, as proposed by Jacobs, which was less than the percentage increase of 4.36% if the default increase was used in the required formula outlined in the agreement. To address current employee retention issues for licensed Commercial Drivers, Jacobs is proposing an additional fee increase of $250,000 for salary increases and bonus incentives to attract and retain CDL drivers.
Jacobs employees twenty-six CDL drivers to meet the solid waste collection needs of The Villages. Current industry demand for CDL drivers has Jacobs experiencing staff retention issues. Jacobs current hiring CDL wage of $18.50 per hour is below competitors and the average Florida wage. The average hiring wage in our area is $20.38 per hour. This disparity has resulted in the loss of seven drivers over the past three months and five unfilled positions. To compensate drivers competitively and to improve the quality of service for residents, Jacobs has proposed to increase CDL driver wages by an average of 7% with monthly incentive bonuses for performance and to encourage retention."
I understand cost will increase but sill believe NSCUDD as a public entity should have rates that are in line with a private firm providing the same service.