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services. In all cases, the Minnesota solid waste tax is 9.75%. In some cases there is also a county solid waste fee. The amount for this fee varies among counties. The taxes and county fee charges were provided by some billing survey participants. In some cases, if the tax amount was not supplied and it was determined that tax was not included in the base rate for the service, the tax amount was calculated. In other cases, if the taxes and county charges were not provided separately by the survey participant, and if it wasn't clear whether or not these fees were included in the base cost, the amount paid to the hauler could not be determined. The values in Table 4-4 are averages of these calculated values based on information received from the billing survey participants. As mentioned above, in an open system the hauler is able to collect the money charged to residents less what they need to remit to the state for taxes and to the county if they have a solid waste service fee. In the organized system cities, the amount paid to the hauler by the cities is negotiated and outlined in a contract. In Mankato, the hauler is paid the same base rate for every house serviced regardless of the size container the resident uses. In Minneapolis, the amount paid to MRI is only $10.49 per month as the City funds many other solid waste functions with the remaining revenues (even alley snow plowing and graffiti removal). 4.5.1 Open System Cities Duluth No billing survey responses were received for the city of Duluth. The rate data for collection services in Duluth was obtained from a hauler's website. This particular hauler provides a substantial amount of the residential collections services in the City. The rates from this website are shown in Table 4-3. These rates only represent one hauler and may not reflect the average rates for the Duluth market. However, as mentioned, the hauler does have a significant market share and therefore likely has competitive rates. Licensed haulers in Duluth are required by WLSSD to establish a rate structure for collection services based on rules outlined by the City. Each hauler is required to set a "base rate" to be charged for one 32 gallon container service. The base rate shall include the costs associated with recycling. The base rate does not include taxes or the WLSSD solid waste management fee. The 64 gallon container base rate is supposed to be 135% of the 32 gallon container base rate. The 96 gallon container base rate is supposed to be 170% of the 32 gallon container base rate. This creates a volume based structure for residential collection. Haulers are free to set the base rate for the 32 gallon container service at any price. The rates for the additional volume services (e.g., 64 and 96) provided by haulers must follow this pricing structure. WLSSD has a solid waste management fee in place to covers costs associated with environmental services (hazardous waste disposal, recycling, composting and waste reduction) and educational programs. The solid waste fee for a 32 gallon size container is $0.28 per pick up. The fees for other size containers are more or less than this value depending on the size of the container (larger containers are charged more). Haulers collect these fees when they bill residents and in turn pay the total fee amount for all their customers to WLSSD. A portion of the solid waste management fee is also collected through property taxes ($18.00 per year for residents). R - Analysis of Waste Collection Service Arrangements.doc Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC • 91 June 2009