2015/16 Budget Amendment

July 9th, 2015

Ann Arbor City Council 2015/16 Ann Arbor Budget Amendment
Sponsors: GRAND, KRAPOHL AND WESTPHAL
Approved Unanimously on Voice Vote

MAY 18, 2015

CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE ORGANICS MANAGEMENT PLAN

Whereas, There is a strong ethic of conservation and environmental stewardship among the residents of Ann Arbor;

Whereas, Ann Arbor residents put these values into practice, currently recycling and composting roughly half of their solid waste each year;

Whereas, The Waste Less: Solid Waste Resource Plan adopted in October 2013 set goals of increasing single family diversion rates from 50 to 60% and total citywide diversion rates from 31% to 40% by 2017;

Whereas, The most recent waste sort conducted by the City of Ann Arbor found that over 40% of the material making its way to the landfill from Ann Arbor was comprised of potentially recoverable organic waste, much of it food and wood waste;

Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to send unrecovered materials to a private landfill;

Whereas, Meaningful increases in organics collection will require a host of inter-related strategies in order to maximize the recovery of these materials in a cost-effective and efficient manner;

Whereas, Such strategies might include: year-round organics collection in the residential, commercial and institutional sectors; source reduction education and outreach to reduce the volume of food waste; coordination and support of food rescue programs in the community; home composting demonstration and outreach; urban wood/forestry waste recovery; fats/oils/grease (FOG) management; citizen and business input in the design of collection programs; and a review of best practices in other communities;

Whereas, Ann Arbor City Council views minimization of waste and the conservation of natural resources to be a priority of the community, and therefore desires to create momentum to drive this agenda forward in a thoughtful manner; and

Whereas, The Solid Waste unrestricted fund balance at June 30, 2014 was $14.2 million and the Administrator’s proposed operating budget shows a $300,000 surplus in the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund;

RESOLVED, That $100,000.00 be allocated in the 2015/16 Solid Waste Operating Budget to create a comprehensive organics management plan for City Council to consider, including funding and program recommendations for fiscal 2016/17 and following; and

RESOLVED, That the Solid Waste Fund FY2016 expenditure budget be increased by $100,000.00 funded by a one-time use of fund balance; and

RESOLVED, That staff is directed to coordinate this planning process, providing an update to City Council on its progress no later than December 1, 2015; and

RESOLVED, That staff will work with the Environmental Commission in the development and organization of this effort in order to engage the wider community and provide transparency throughout the plan development process.