Garbage pickup
fees may double

Businesses would pay higher
minimums and more per cubic foot

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

The committee yesterday approved several other fee increases that would take effect July 1 as part of the coming year's operating budget.

About 1,250 businesses now pay 50 cents per cubic foot of trash, or a minimum charge of $15 a month. The fees have not increased since July 1990.

The proposal calls for a charge of $1 per cubic foot, or a minimum of $30.

The increase is expected to reap the city an additional $375,000 over current yearly revenues.

Most of the businesses are in the city's oldest commercial districts, such as downtown, Chinatown, Kaimuki, Kapahulu, Wahiawa, Kailua and Kaneohe.

Councilman Steve Holmes questioned why the city still picks up storefront trash when most businesses now pay for commercial hauling services.

Jerry Souza, chairman of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, warned that the higher cost of refuse hauling would be passed on to consumers.

Other increases in refuse collection and disposal charges that are part of the same package may also find their way to consumers' pocketbooks.

A key change is in the basic tipping fee charged to commercial haulers. Plans call for the fee to go up from $55 a ton to $60 beginning July 1. The fee would go to $65.75 in July 1998 and $72.25 in July 1999.

The same package also establishes charges for businesses on the city's automated refuse service, and charges for disposal of waste requiring special handling, from seized drugs to confidential records.

Some committee members yesterday started to raise questions about Mayor Jeremy Harris' plan to charge potential job applicants for taking examinations.

Members Mufi Hannemann and John Henry Felix say they're worried that charging police and fire fighter candidates $35 may discourage some from trying.

"I've had problems with this philosophically from the beginning," Hannemann said.

"It could discourage some very worthy individuals from applying," Felix said.

City Personnel Director Sandra Ebesu said the administration is exploring a waiver policy for those who cannot afford a fee.

The policy would likely include those whose unemployment can be verified or who are on the official rolls of welfare assistance programs.

Budget Director Malcolm Tom said the Police Department is not worried about a lack of qualified applicants. It suggested the idea of charging examination fees to the administration after looking into other jurisdictions that have it, he said.

Felix suggested that the administration may want to consider charging only those who apply a second time after failing a first test.

The administration wants to collect about $200,000 annually in fees to help recoup some of the $477,000 it costs to administer the tests.

Hannemann and Felix both voted to move the bill out of committee, saying they're giving the administration a chance to clarify their position.