City Board Meeting: Refuse & Recycling Update, Bulky Waste Rate Vote - March 31, 2026
City Board Meeting Summary – March 31, 2026
The board reviewed monthly operational reports, discussed the fiscal year financial status, approved a county MOU, and voted on a bulky waste fee increase after extensive debate. Key decisions included raising the bulky waste pickup fee from $10 to $20 for one year and initiating a collaborative process to develop assistance programs for low-income residents.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from the February 17, 2026 Focus Committee meeting and the February 24, 2026 full board meeting (motion carried by voice vote).
- Approved reinstatement of the Tulsa County multi-site MOU for government vehicles only (not residents). Motion carried by voice vote with no opposition.
Discussion Items
- Tonnage Report (Terry): Presented February 2026 data. Recycling contamination rate dropped to 22.78% – the lowest since the facility opened (down from 28.84% in the prior audit). Eight recycling carts removed in February due to platinum contamination. Green waste processing adjusted due to reduced incoming volume (contractor side eliminated). Bulky waste tonnage: 197 tons in Feb 2026 vs 171 tons in Feb 2025. Illegal dumping also up (19.92 tons vs 12.05 tons), attributed to warm weather. The mulch at the site is now primarily fine mulch; community garden volunteers can pick up for free. A new gate on 129th Street was completed.
- Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility Report (Frank): February 2026 saw 157 more customers vs Feb 2025 (+81% increase), collecting 27,562 pounds (up 11,500 pounds). 351 total customers (298 Tulsa residents). Swap shop issued 449 items. The two-item limit for swap shop visitors who did not bring pollutants was lifted; effective March 1, the limit reverts to five items free. Progress on insulation (spray foam) and potential unisex bathroom installation; bids came in under budget.
- Monthly Financial Report (Finance staff): For the period ending Feb 28, 2026. Total revenues in the tariff fund: $28.4 million (68.82% of estimate, exceeding projection by $1.1 million). Charges for services: $27.5 million, $753,000 over budget. Investment income drove most of the overage. Total expenses: $38.2 million (80.89%). No budget amendments needed; staff expects to finish the year as budgeted.
- Bulky Waste Rate Budget Scenarios: The board debated raising the bulky waste pickup fee from $10 to $20 to partially offset program costs. Supporters (Chuck, Krista, and others) argued it would reduce the subsidy, help fund operations, and that data should be collected over the year to assess impact on illegal dumping. Opponents (Pat) argued the increase would burden low-income residents, could increase illegal dumping, and that the projected fund balance difference ($250,000) was within normal revenue variance. Krista initially leaned against, then shifted to support with a one-year trial. A motion to keep the fee at $10 failed (2-3 vote). A subsequent motion to raise to $20 for FY27 passed (3-2 vote, with one abstention). The board requested staff to convene a working group (including billing, 311, code enforcement, and neighborhood planning) to develop a hardship assistance program and explore mechanisms for third-party payment.
- Rate Increase Communication: Staff noted that the 4% base rate increase and other changes (backyard service to $28, extra carts $15/30, sticker price to $2, etc.) will be communicated via June bill stuffers and direct mail to the 2,800 twice-a-week customers. The twice-a-week option will be eliminated. All changes effective October 1, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Bulky waste fee raised to $20 for one year (starting October 1, 2026), with a commitment to reevaluate after 12 months. Motion passed 3-2-1.
- Working group to be formed including representatives from utility billing, 311, code enforcement, and neighborhood planning to design a subsidy/voucher program for low-income residents and a system for neighbors to pay for someone else’s bulky waste pickup. The group will report to the Focus Committee in April or May.
- Multi-site MOU with Tulsa County approved for government vehicles only.
- Next meeting: Date set for the next regular board meeting; no specific date given (likely April or May).
Meeting Transcript
Item three minutes of the meetings A minutes of February 17th, 2026 Focus Committee meeting and B minutes of February 24th, 2026 full board meeting. Do I have any revision? I would entertain a motion to accept. Motion acts. We had 497 more tons. And if you look at the to the right there, you'll see for the year we've had uh eight recycling carts removed and six of those were in February for platinum contamination. We uh lost another 14 twice a week customers at go away again in October. Next page. And the green waste, um, I I was kind of looking at this graph and and I noticed kind of the how it looked like we had a lot of green waste coming in, we weren't really grinding much, so I got with the staff out there and talk. We're not we're not getting a lot more green waste coming in because we got rid of the the contractor side, so they're letting the green waste build up before they kick open the grinder and start doing a full grind. So you can kind of see for January we had a lot coming in, didn't do much grinding, but in February they caught back up on all their grinding. So if you look at that graph chart, that's kind of what that looks like. It's not like we're looking off lop side anymore, it's because we're we're not getting a lot of green waste in, so it's not worth kind of really starting to grinder up over a small batch, so they're kind of like pile up before we get to it. Uh what they're doing in the meantime out there, they've done a lot of site cleanup. Um not sure if you go out there often, but we put a gate in on the west side off 129th, and that took forever, but it's finally accomplished. But in the meantime, what we're doing is we're clearing that whole uh area up so on a blind spot when we did get the gate in so people come in, see vehicles coming in, it wouldn't be no accidents. So we've kind of cleared out the whole fence line. Uh it's it looks a lot cleaner out there, so they're they're not just setting idle out there. Is that the area where there was an accident last year? When there are no that was the main gate where we had the contractors coming in. This is our secondary gate. Like if we have a weather event, a lot of times you'll have people coming on the front side, bringing all the ways, but then we're as we're collecting allows us a back way in so that we're not in interacting with the public. Okay. Because it's site there's a land reclamation site up there, so that site's used for like water departments, stormwater, bring their siltation and their spoils out there to dump. So instead of having to wait on contract, like some during storm business contractors coming in, they'd come and access gate and not wait in line. Okay. Used to be a gate, and we just made it worse. What is um ask just what is the best way? Um like we're putting it in a community garden on the 18th, and so we're gonna need kind of a large bunch of mulch. Um, and rather than just getting every neighbor to come out at the same time, is there a way that we can tell you that we're coming or request, you know, so that's if you have a dump truck or a trailer or something, we we have the capabilities of loading it with a front end loader so we can load it for you right now. And most of our mulch we have out there is fine mulch because now we're not having to display keep up, we're actually producing pretty much all of our fine mulch now. So it's actually really good mulch. Um, should we should we call ahead or email or anything? No, just show up to the main gate. We we have a lot. Okay. Okay. Um, and are the lines better out there since the contractors aren't there? Yes. I don't want to have my volunteers be a little late in my lines are the lines are way down. This night and day difference now. Okay. Just checking. Thank you. What color is it? The mulch. It's just yeah, it's natural. It's kind of a darker brown right now. Right. Starts light brown as the ages.
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