The Clovis City Council approved unanimously to raise sweeping charges and reduce refuse rates.
On November 15th, Assistant Public Utilities Director Glenn Eastes presented the new ordinance to the council about Clovis Street Sweeping. This included rate increases, reduction of refuse rates and an annual increase starting in 2023.
The proposal explained that the charge increase would take place on July 1st, 2022. This would be a $0.50 increase that would raise the rates from $2.25 to $2.75. The plan would also reduce the refuse rate by 1.5%.
The charge increase would result in an estimated $260,000 increase in revenue. The reduction in refuse rates would see an estimated reduction/offset in revenue of $240,000.
The annual increases would be estimated at 4% starting in 2023, unless changed or not needed via annual budget meetings.
To ensure those who are billed for the sweeping were aware of this proposal, notices were given out 45 days prior to the council meeting. Of the 35,112 notices that were sent out, only 11 were opposed to the increase. Because this wasn’t a majority of the customers, the council was able to approve the proposal.
During the public comments segment of the hearing, those who had some issues with the street sweeping trucks spoke about their concerns.
Resident Susan Bailey explained what she sees in her neighborhood.
“The street sweeper in my neighborhood actually happens to dirty the street,” Bailey said. “The street sweeper basically leaves dirty streak marks all the way down the block. It’s just disappointing to see that. It takes almost that full cycle for it to start to fade away before the street sweeper is back.”
Since the ordinance has been approved by the council, the second reading of the ordinance will take place on December 6th. One month after the second reading, the ordinance will become effective. This will mean the ordinance will become effective January 6, 2022.
For more information on this ordinance, you can view the meeting on the City of Clovis YouTube page. You can also visit the City of Clovis website and click on “agendas”.