Form revised: August 9, 2010

FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	CBO Analyst/Phone:
Legislative	Meg Moorehead, 4-8929

Legislation Title:

AN ORDINANCE relating to solid waste reduction; establishing license requirements for publishers of yellow pages phone books; establishing an opt-out registry and a recovery fee for yellow pages phone books, and amending the Seattle Municipal Code by creating a new Chapter 6.255.

Summary of the Legislation:

To advance City waste reduction goals, this ordinance establishes a new business license for distributors of yellow pages phone books. To obtain or renew a license, a distributor would pay a $100 license fee, agree to use a City-sponsored opt-out list, report how many books were delivered in Seattle, and pay a recovery fee for each delivered book and for each ton of books delivered. City enforcement and penalties would apply if the opt-out list is not honored. Fees would entirely cover program costs.

Background:

An estimated 1.9 million yellow pages telephone books are delivered each year in Seattle comprising 2,300 tons of paper that must be recycled through the City’s solid waste system. Many people now find businesses through the internet and no longer want paper phone books. Although yellow pages publishers have lists of customers who have requested not to receive the books (“opt-out” lists), many customers are not aware of those lists and there is no single opt-out list covering all major yellow pages publishers. With the private opt-out lists, yellow pages are sometimes mistakenly delivered to customers who have opted-out, requiring each of those customers to follow up with publishers to ensure their opt-out request is honored. To advance City zero-waste goals, this ordinance addresses these issues by creating a single City-sponsored opt-out list, establishing a per-book recovery fee to pay City costs for an opt-out list, and setting a per-ton recovery fee for collection and recycling of yellow pages books. The opt-out list and recovery fees would be tied to a new business license for yellow pages distributors. Distributors requiring a license include persons or organizations responsible for publishing yellow pages phone books and distributing more than 4 tons of those books to addresses in the City. City enforcement and penalties would apply if publishers do not honor the opt-out list.

____ This legislation does not have any financial implications.

(Stop here and delete the remainder of this document prior to saving and printing.)

___X_ This legislation has financial implications. (Please complete all relevant sections that follow.)

Appropriations:

Fund Name and Number	Department	Budget Control Level*	2010 Appropriation	2011 Anticipated Appropriation
TOTAL

*See budget book to obtain the appropriate Budget Control Level for your department.

Appropriations Notes: 

No new appropriation is requested at this time. It is anticipated that an appropriation to implement this ordinance would be added during 2011-2012 budget approval. Because the number of distributors is small, no new appropriation likely will be needed for the Department of Executive Administration (DEA). Additional appropriation for Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU’s) Solid Waste Division could be $275,000 in 2011 and $225,000 in 2012 to pay for public outreach regarding the new opt-out service, and a contract for developing and operating that service.

Anticipated Revenue/Reimbursement: Resulting from this Legislation:

Fund Name and Number	Department	Revenue Source	2010 Revenue	2011 Revenue
TOTAL

Revenue/Reimbursement Notes:

Fees would fund ordinance implementation, including a $100 license fee to cover DEA costs, a recovery fee of 14 cents/book to cover SPU’s costs for the opt-out service, and a recovery fee of $148/ton to pay for yellow pages collection and recycling. Because solid waste rates currently pay for yellow pages recycling, recovery fee revenue would offset $340,000 to $350,000 of solid waste rate revenue, helping to moderate rate increases proposed for 2011 and 2012. 

Total Regular Positions Created, Modified, or Abrogated through this Legislation, Including FTE Impact:

Position Title and Department	Position # for Existing Positions	Fund Name & #	PT/FT	2010 Positions	2010 FTE	2011 Positions*	2011 FTE*
TOTAL

* 2010 positions and FTE are total 2010 position changes resulting from this legislation, not incremental changes.  Therefore, under 2010, please be sure to include any continuing positions from 2009.

Position Notes:

 No new positions are proposed.

Do positions sunset in the future? 

Spending/Cash Flow:

Fund Name & #	Department	Budget Control Level*	2010 Expenditures	2011 Anticipated Expenditures
TOTAL

* See budget book to obtain the appropriate Budget Control Level for your department.

Spending/Cash Flow Notes:

What is the financial cost of not implementing the legislation?

If the legislation is not implemented, solid waste rates (and the customers who pay them) would continue to fund about $340,000 in 2011 and $350,000 in 2012 for yellow pages collection and recycling.

Does this legislation affect any departments besides the originating department?

Yes, it affects SPU and DEA.

What are the possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar objectives?

The no-action alternative would continue to rely on private opt-out systems that up to now have not achieved the level of waste reduction anticipated with the ordinance’s opt-out and licensing system.  

Is the legislation subject to public hearing requirements?

No.

Other Issues: (Include long-term implications of the legislation.)

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