Administrative Rules Update 1 Comments and Staff Response 

“I oppose allowing people to have their carts removed and not pay the fee because I think it's likely some people will do this even if they aren't actually going to be gone. This could lead to illegal dumping. If their electric and water are turned off, then removing carts makes sense. Also, why should we subsidize people who leave their properties vacant for so long when we have such a need for housing. This would be a benefit only to wealthier people who can afford a second home somewhere else. That shouldn't be a priority.” 

The cart-removal service Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) provides for residents who will be away for a period of 90 days or longer is most often utilized by customers performing home renovations where a (non-ARR) roll-off dumpster is on the premises. Illegal dumping has not been reported to be a concern. ARR’s billing team investigates the accounts to ensure that the house is vacant by checking water and electric usage. If this section is removed from the Administrative Rules, there is a chance that a customer will pay for COA services and private hauler service when they are renovating or preparing to make a home ready for a new occupant.  

In response to this comment, ARR staff have made the following change to the Administrative Rules language: 

4.1.4      Customers that will be away from the premise for a period of at least (3) three months (90 days) may request to have their carts removed from the premise by calling the Utility Contact Center (UCC) at 512-494-9400 or emailing customercare@coautilities.com and requesting a cart pickup. Once the carts have been removed and the premises is verified to be vacant, the cart fee will be removed from the billing account. The Base Charge and Clean Community Fee will continue to be billed while the utility services are active. Upon their return, the customer must call the Utility Contact Center (UCC) at 512-454-9400 or email customercare@coautilities.com to request a cart drop-off. The Cart Exchange Fee will be charged to re-deliver the cart. 

“The use of the term "single-family" throughout this section doesn't make sense. It applies to duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes, right? Either come up with a term that you define as encompassing the all, or spell them all out. I selected oppose on the "Department curbside collection includes the following" question because of the bulk collection. It's past time for on demand bulk collection with maximum diversion of collected materials from the landfill to be implemented city-wide. That should be reflected on this section.” 

In this update to the Administrative Rules, ARR staff propose adding a definition for “Single Family Residential Property,” being “the use of a site for only one dwelling unit, other than a mobile home.” As defined, “single-family” does not refer to multi-unit residences, such as duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes.  

On-demand Bulk collection service is currently being offered in a limited number of districts as a pilot program. While the department plans to ultimately expand on-call Bulk collection citywide (as outlined in ARR’s 2023 Comprehensive Plan), the Administrative Rules should reflect all services currently available. Therefore, the Administrative Rules are amended to apply to all customers, regardless of current access to on-call Bulk collection.  

“Most people would consider multifamily buildings to also be residential. A different term should be used to describe this subset of residential properties. Maybe it's "serviced residential properties".” 

A future update to the Administrative Rules will include a revised definition of “Multifamily Property” that will distinguish between multifamily properties that ARR services (duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes) and those that ARR does not (properties with 5 or more units).