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Table 2 <br />1 Goals and resulting hauler arrangement recommendations' <br />Goal °— <br />Arrangement <br />Explanation <br />If the goal is recycling <br />Greater control <br />Jurisdiction has control over program design and rates, and can plan the program for <br />participation, access, or <br />diversion, select 4 <br />(contract, district); <br />maximum diversion or set rates to create incentives to increase diversion. Performance <br />Fewer actors <br />incentives can be easily built into the arrangement. <br />If the goal is lowest rates, <br />Exclusive (contract, <br />select 4 <br />district) <br />Haulers can realize economies of scale, routing efficiencies, truck savings, etc. <br />If the goal is environmental <br />Exclusive (contract, <br />Reduces the number of trucks on the streets, wear - and -tear, GHG emissions caused by <br />effects, select 4 <br />district) <br />trucks, etc, through route design, service areas, and reduced redundancy. Maintains a <br />"cleaner" look on the street with uniform containers, days of collection, etc. <br />If the oal is program <br />g g <br />Contract or franchise, <br />one or multiple <br />Rates can be designed to cover more than just the costs of collection and can <br />funding, selecc t <br />collectors <br />potentially help fund diversion and environmental programs. <br />If the primary <br />Non - exclusive, lower <br />Haulers will be less resistant to this approach. There is minimal interference in the <br />consideration is minimizing <br />control (ordinance, <br />free market and all haulers are on a level playing field. Exclusive arrangements tend to <br />political difficulty, select Ht <br />license) or multiple <br />involve a "taking" of customer accounts from some haulers and often lead to political <br />franchises <br />backlash. <br />If the primary <br />Non - exclusive, lower <br />consideration is least staff/ <br />control (ordinance, <br />Achieve some control /authority, and staffing and oversight may be lower with non- <br />oversight, select 4 <br />license) franchise/ <br />exclusive agreements (unless there are auxiliary regulations to oversee). <br />district <br />Source: SERA, 2013 <br />Influencing or <br />selecting the number <br />of contracted service <br />providers <br />Step 2 is deciding whether the town or mu- <br />nicipality wants to try to reduce the haulers <br />operating. Generally, fewer actors providing <br />service leads to: <br />Pros: Greater economies of scale, <br />increased efficiencies, lower rates (assuming <br />I ere is not a monopoly and a competitive <br />process was used to select service providers), <br />fewer trucks on the street (and lower poflu- <br />tion), greater control, easier education. <br />Difficulties: Less competitive environ- <br />ment, fewer options to provide service if <br />selected provider doesn't perform, potential <br />"taking" of business from some operating <br />haulers, reactions from residents that want <br />to choose their service provider. <br />Fewer haulers – if desired – can be <br />achieved (directly or indirectly) under <br />licensing, ordinance, contracting or mu- <br />nicipalization. The action is direct under <br />contracting - related options and municipal- <br />ization; similar outcomes may be achieved <br />if licensing or ordinance requirements raise <br />the bar for service provision or market entry <br />to a degree that some actors can't comply. <br />Alternatively, the licensing or ordinance <br />options can be simple and involve little <br />interference in the private market competi- <br />tion setting. <br />The main choice is exclusive (one <br />hauler winner) versus non - exclusive (two <br />or more service providers). The choice is <br />partly dependent on the size of the com- <br />munity; it may be impractical for more than <br />one hauler in small communities. However, <br />beyond this consideration, there are many <br />choices and nuances to designing the best <br />system, but a number of the key pros and <br />cons of exclusive and non - exclusive hauler <br />arrangements are shown in Table 1. <br />Selecting the best - <br />suited strategy <br />— considering key <br />community goals <br />Choosing a hauler arrangement is often a <br />political decision. Knowing the jurisdiction's <br />goals ahead of time will help it decide which <br />arrangement makes the most sense. Some <br />potential goals and the best arrangemems to <br />achieve the goals are displayed in Table 2. In <br />work with communities, we have developed <br />useful flow charts that help councils come to <br />options that best suit their goals. <br />Required steps <br />The steps required to consider and implement <br />these options depend on the local political <br />process. Choices must be made about the <br />conditions or service options to be incor- <br />porated into each option. First and second <br />readings and public hearings for ordinances <br />may be required; evaluations and council <br />approvals, negotiation and other steps are <br />needed for contracts. Implementation steps <br />must be clarified. Enforcement and track- <br />ing should be key elements of each option in <br />order to assure a level playing field that will <br />lead to compliance and equity – for haulers <br />and citizens. <br />Conclusion <br />Change is never easy. However, as this ar- <br />ticle demonstrates, communities may be able <br />to achieve some authority without a great <br />deal of market intervention – and a whole <br />lot of control if they select more aggressive <br />options. The options are few, straightfor- <br />ward and fairly easy to understand, as are <br />the tradeoffs. However, most communities <br />find that, if they want to achieve greater <br />diversion, some intervention in the market <br />is needed. Check the pulse of the local <br />council – they may be willing to move from <br />a no- action stance if they understand the <br />power of the most basic of options, or move <br />°upward" in intervention levels in order to <br />achieve desired goals. '72 <br />More detailed versions of this work (includ- <br />ing options for commercial control) are avail- <br />able from the authors. In addition, we have <br />assembled recommended ordinance language, <br />and sample RFPs and contracts, etc. SERA <br />provides research and consulting services to <br />communities, counties and states across the <br />US. The authors are available at (303) 494- <br />1178 or skumatz @serainc.com. <br />RR I January2013 17 <br />