BRATTLEBORO — If the town manager staff's projections are correct, the fiscal year 2020 budget for trash, compost, and recycling removal should see higher income and nearly level-funded expenses.
What FY20 won't see is a program for curbside pickup of bulky items like unwanted furniture and appliances.
The Selectboard has concluded that bulky trash pick-up is not an issue the town can solve, at least for now, as the current vendor has balked at providing the service.
Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland presented the Solid Waste Fund budget at the Dec. 11 special Selectboard meeting.
Overall, the budget's revenues are expected to go up by about 5 percent, for a total of $837,600.
Most of that will come from a $510,000 transfer from the General Fund, and the next largest amount - $325,000 - is a result of sales of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) bags.
The town transfers money from the General Fund to help cover continued cost increases for collecting residents' refuse.
How much do pay-as-you-throw fees cover?
A discussion ensued among Selectboard members, Moreland, and Town Manager Peter B. Elwell about how much of the cost of managing the town's solid waste is covered by revenues from PAYT bags.
Selectboard member Tim Wessel said there's a misconception among some residents that the bags' cost covers the entire solid waste program.
Not so. The proceeds cover 38 percent of the Solid Waste Fund budget.
The sale of the bags covers only the collection and tipping of trash - not compost collection or collection and tipping of recyclables, “which is why you are still paying, out of your taxes, for [these services],” said Selectboard Vice Chair Brandie Starr.
Expenses are set to go down by $292. Some increases are anticipated for the town's contract with Triple T Trucking to collect and get rid of the trash and recycling through the town's curbside pickup service.
Moreland noted the town plans to slightly increase the number of dumpsters outside of municipal facilities and trash and recycling cans in public areas.
Because of the volatile recyclables market, the proposed FY20 Solid Waste Fund budget includes a $19,000 increase - 17.9 percent over FY19 - for recycling tipping fees. Moreland pointed out that this increase is offset by the sharp decrease, of $22,000, for the assessment the town pays to the Windham Solid Waste Management District.
No bulk in budget for bulky items
What's missing from this year's proposed Solid Waste Fund budget is a line item covering pick-up of big, bulky items like dead air-conditioners and old mattresses.
Earlier this year, the Selectboard asked town manager staff to investigate the feasibility of including some sort of large-item collection with the town's curbside pick-up service.
Some residents have neither the access to a truck nor the funds to pay for the disposal of such items, board members noted.
Can the town do anything about this?
“I thought this would be easier,” admitted Moreland.
Moreland reported that he, Elwell, and officials at Triple T Trucking had discussed the possibility but didn't get very far.
“We were surprised to learn our hauler [Triple T Trucking] didn't have any interest in this business,” said Moreland, who explained, “they're concerned for the safety of their staff.”
To collect items like broken sofas and junked washing machines, Triple T would have to bring around a roll-off bin on top of a flatbed truck, and workers would have to raise these “large, awkward, and heavy” items up and into the container with no crane or other device to load the bin, Moreland explained.
Another hitch is the weight limits defined in the town's contract with Triple T. The maximum is 40 pounds, and that's for a trash can. The limits on PAYT bags are 20 pounds for a small bag and 30 pounds for the big ones.
If the Selectboard wants to provide bulky item pick-up, said Moreland, “we'll need to do this without Triple T.”
Moreland said he's not sure what to do next, but he welcomes proposals from the private sector.