City Council

A. PROPOSITION 218 MAJORITY PROTEST PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED SOLID WASTE RATES AND NEW SOLID WASTE RATE ADJUSTMENT FORMULA On May 19, 2026, the City Council approved the Seventh Amendment to the Amended and Restated Agreement (Agreement) with Arakelian Enterprises, Incorporated, doing business as Athens Services, which included various service changes. Chief among these changes operationally is the implementation of a 3-stream collection system with source-separated recycling and organic waste for all customers, which will enable the City to comply with State Senate Bill 1383 requirements to reduce the percentage of organic waste disposed of in landfills, and help reduce landfill emissions of methane and other air pollutants. Other services changes included additional support from Athens for the City’s edible food recovery program and community events, increased bulky item “hotspot” monitoring, and various adjustments related to container impoundment, delinquencies, and other operational processes to support compliance and program efficiency. To facilitate these additional services, the Agreement included changes to rates and the annual rate adjustment formula. These proposed rate changes are subject to a majority protest process in accordance with California Constitution Article XIII D, which is also known as a “Proposition 218 hearing” after the measure which California voters passed in 1996 to add Articles XIII C and XIII D to the California Constitution. This requires the City to hold a public hearing and mail a notice of the hearing to the record owners of all properties receiving the service for which the fee is charged not less than 45-days prior to the date of the public hearing. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Determination: Not a Project as defined in Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines. Recommended Action: Staff recommends that the City Council: 1. Open the public hearing as required by Proposition 218; 2. Hear and consider public testimony and accept any additional written protests; 3. Receive the City Clerk’s certification of the protest count; and 4a. If an insufficient number of protests are submitted in opposition to the new rates at the conclusion of the public hearing, staff recommends that the City Council approve the adoption of Resolution No. 26-39 establishing the new rates and rate adjustment methodology; or 4b. If a sufficient number of protests are submitted in opposition to the new rates at the conclusion of the public hearing, the City Council may not approve the proposed rate changes, and staff recommends that the City Council discuss and direct staff on how to proceed with next steps.