Mayor wants to set trash fees higher to help cover deficit

Program faces shortfall after its first year; fees would go up $30

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — Health Director Bernard F. Sullivan presented a new trash fee proposal to the Finance Committee Thursday that would increase the annual fee residents pay for curbside pickup by $30, to make up for a projected $125,000 shortfall in the city’s solid waste enterprise account. The presentation to the committee was the first of several steps required for rewriting an ordinance. In order for the City Council to change the prices listed in the current trash fee program, the law requires that the council approve the parameters of the proposal on two separate occasions. Mayor Mark P. Hawke hopes that the dual review will occur before July, and said that he plans to hold a public forum before then. “It’s important to give the residents a chance to have some input,” said the mayor. The current curbside pickup program permits residents to fill a barrel up to 40 gallons with up to 50 pounds of trash, participants then pay a fee of $150 per household annually, and any trash the exceeds the posted weight limit must be placed outside the barrel in city bags that cost $3.50 each. Under the new fee proposal, these residents would now be asked to pay $180 a year for curbside pickup and the price for city bags are not scheduled to change. The increased price, Mr. Sullivan said, is necessary to keep the program functioning properly, and can be attributed to factors that were unknown when the original figures were projected. “We were showing a shortage for the current fiscal year, and this money is needed to cover the cost of operating the program,” said Mr. Sullivan. “When we set this up originally, we were working with projected figures and we knew what our costs were going to be overall, but we didn’t have a really good handle on how many houses we were going to be picking up, we didn’t know how many people would be here seasonally, how many homes would be vacant, all of those things factored in.” Mr. Hawke said that not all the prices in the trash program are going to increase. For example, there will be a 60 percent reduction in the fee for acquiring a transfer station sticker. Residents were previously required to pay $50 for the sticker, the new proposal would change that price to an even $20. Although the trash fee is being increased, Mr. Hawke said residents shouldn’t worry that it will be raised again soon because he expects this fee to sufficiently support the enterprise account through the next several fiscal years. “Now that we have half a year under our belts with this program, we can focus the picture a little more,” said Mr. Hawke. “This fee should be good for this fiscal year and the next, so residents shouldn’t be seeing an increase in the next two years.” oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 5/16/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 117)