Transfer Station

Post date: Jun 02, 2020 6:4:19 PM

Need to finalize sticker prices for beginning of July. We will be implementing an on-line sticker purchase system using the same platform as tax bills. Expecting a little ramp up & notification time this year. In future years, we will be able to send electronic renewal reminders.

Will also be moving to bag tags instead of bag sales. When we restore charging for disposal, this is a way to reduce some plastic volume (some people "double bag" their own bag into the Town bag) and will allow us to distribute much more efficiently by mail than requiring pick-up at retail stores or at Town Hall. Don't have a restoration date -- leaning toward August 1. Would like to get the sticker part working before we add another layer of complexity. Instead of small and large bags, the system will be 1 sticker for the size equivalent of a small bag and 2 stickers for a large bag.

Disposal contracts have now been finalized through the region. As anticipated costs were going up. Sadly, in most cases, they went up more than we projected. So, transportation costs will drive costs higher. Paper disposal will end up being less, due to dramatically lower per ton cost; however, glass and plastic disposal charges will offset most of that increase. Solid waste will also increase more than anticipated.

In summary, from last year, the cost of glass and plastic recycling disposal is up 23.5% and paper is unchanged, yielding a combined "recycling disposal" cost increase of -5%. We cover the share of budget allocated to recycling through sticker sales. To that end, I'm not recommending a sticker price increase since we did that last year (to offset a jump in recycling disposal from the previous year). The only administrative change is moving the secondary sticker from $15 to $20 to streamline so it is the same as monthly and we only need 2 pricing options.

Solid disposal is up 12.75% from last year and we have not adjusted bag prices in a long time, so it has been underrepresented in carrying it's share of the operating cost.

To that end, our recommendation to balance the fund (remembering that an enterprise fund is fully self funding -- no property tax supplement) and recognizing that we have a low balance in the reserve to offset increases, is that tag stickers be set at $2/sticker.