Title
Abandoned Shopping Cart Program Retrieval Fee Update (Ordinance S-51261)
Description
Request City Council approval for Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) to charge a $25 cart retrieval fee for retailers with established cart retrieval contracts.
Report
Summary
The NSD's Abandoned Shopping Cart Retrieval Program retrieves abandoned shopping carts throughout the City of Phoenix. The program was designed to address the increasing resident concerns regarding hazards to pedestrians and motorists and the visual blight created by abandoned shopping carts in neighborhoods. The program provides a timely response to community complaints regarding carts abandoned on sidewalks, along right-of-ways and in alleys.
In 2005, the City Council authorized the City Manager to pilot the Abandoned Shopping Cart Retrieval Program to address carts that lacked signage required by the State shopping cart retrieval statute, Arizona Revised Statutes 14-1799.32. In 2007, the City Council authorized the City Manager to continue to operate the program under a cost recovery model, and NSD contracted with a vendor to retrieve abandoned carts left outside the premises or parking areas of retail establishments. At this time, the program collected a $20 per cart fee billed to retailers that did not have their own cart retrieval contracts. At that time, few retailers had contracted services in place to retrieve carts taken from their business premises. In addition to providing cost recovery, the fee was recognized as a tool to encourage retailers to implement measures to both prevent carts from being removed and to retrieve them when they are removed. In 2012, City Council approved NSD's request to increase the cart retrieval fee from $20 to $25 to maintain full cost recovery.
Over the next five years, program expenses increased while the number of billable carts decreased. In 2017, City Council approved an increase of the $25 retrieval fee to $50 to further encourage retailers to take action to reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts and to increase cost recovery. In addition, NSD's vendor, ACS, increased their fees to include costs to the City for retrieving carts for retailers with their own retrieval contracts.
Since 2017, the number of abandoned shopping carts reported and retrieved increased substantially, from 2,937 in 2017 to 8,604 in 2022. The majority of the increase, 5,142, were shopping carts belonging to retailers with their own contracts for cart retrieval, increasing the City's contract costs by more than 127 percent, from $21,488 to $48,875, yet providing no offset revenue to account for those costs. Due to the increased program expenses and insufficient efficacy of retailer cart retrieval services, NSD is requesting to begin charging retailers with established cart retrieval contracts a $25 retrieval fee, while continuing to charge retailers without a cart retrieval contract the current $50 fee.
If this item is adopted, NSD will amend the current contract with ACS (Contract 157116) as necessary to conform.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
- On June 8, 2005, the City Council authorized the abandoned shopping cart retrieval pilot program, with a $15 fee (Ordinance S-32061).
- On April 4, 2007, the City Council authorized the operation of the abandoned shopping cart retrieval program for a 5-year period and increased the fee to $20 (Ordinance S-33824).
- On July 2, 2007, the City Council specified procedures for the disposition of unclaimed shopping carts collected by the program (Ordinance S-34842).
- On June 20, 2012, the City Council authorized the continued operation of the abandoned shopping cart retrieval program indefinitely (Ordinance S-39026).
- On August 29, 2012, the City Council authorized a fee increase to $25 (Ordinance S-39161).
- On November 29, 2017, the City Council authorized a fee increase to $50 (Ordinance S-44077).
- On September 21, 2022, the City Council approved the current cart retrieval contract with ACS (Contract 157116) (Ordinance S-49021).
- On March 20, 2024, the Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee unanimously recommended City Council amend Contract 157116 with ACS to include collection of the $25 cart retrieval fee for retailers with established cart retrieval contracts.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Alan Stephenson and the Neighborhood Services Department.