Question:
So, when the town spent however-many thousands on those new trash and recycle containers the implication was that the household trash collection cost would go down slightly. While I do like the new containers the only reason to spend money like that, especially during a time like this, is if it will reduce the cost of trash removal.
We recently received our quarterly water/sewer/trash bill and while not in front of me at the moment I believe the trash cost was $55. Is that lower than it was a few quarters ago before the new bins? Or do they just expect that everyone will forget about that little promise and keep charging the same? Anyone remember what it was before?
Now that the trash removal company requires only one worker per truck instead of three and can clear more cans per hour I assume the savings are passed on to the local governments it services. Were those savings passed on to us? That was how it was sold anyway so just curious. Thanks.
Answer:
Yes, the quarterly rate reduced from $61 to $55.
Part of the rate reduction came from the efficiency of the new single stream process with one-person mechanically operated trucks as opposed to the two-person truck manual operation of the prior vendor.
As the $800,000 for the bins (barrels, toters, or whatever you want to call them) are paid off, there is potential for a further reduction.
Note: the financing for the bins is done within the solid waste enterprise account. This account is where the trash and recycle fees are collected, town expenses accumulated, and occasionally when the account balance is sufficient, a rate reduction is passed along to the rate payers.
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