Killington to review trash fees

Rutland Herald

By Lola Duffort
STAFF WRITER | October 15,2015

 

KILLINGTON — The town’s trash bill is up — way up — and the Select Board will review user fees in view of escalating costs.
Minus the fees it collected, Killington spent between $17,000 and $24,400 annually between 2010 and 2013 on trash and recycling services, according to figures compiled by Town Manager Seth Webb. In 2014, the town subsidized trash collection to the tune of $27,000. And just two-thirds of the way into 2015, its costs outstripped its revenues by close to $29,000.
Webb told the Select Board at its Oct. 6 meeting that an uptick in recycling, and especially commercial recycling, was contributing to the town’s increased costs. But rubbish markets have also taken a hit, he said, and the money the town gets back for the sale of its recycling has gone down.
Webb suggested the town consider raising its sticker price — now at $10 for a two-year sticker — or start charging businesses for recycling. The sticker price for the Killington transfer station hadn’t been raised in years, Webb said, and many towns charged about $20 for a one-year sticker.
The town cannot charge residents for recycling, but it can charge businesses for it, Webb said. The town could consider charging for commercial recycling collection, he suggested.
“I think we should look into both,” Select Board Chairwoman Patty McGrath said.
Selectman Chris Bianchi agreed, even joking that the town hadn’t raised its sticker price since he’d returned from college — about 20 years ago.
Webb told the Select Board he’d run the numbers on a few proposals for review at future meetings.
While the town does want to “keep up with expenses,” Webb said after the meeting, it won’t be trying to raise prices enough to break even.
“The town is still going to subsidize trash collection,” he said. “We think it’s an important service.”
Unsurprisingly, recycling went up in Killington after the town switched to no-sort recycling. According to figures provided by the Rutland County Solid Waste District, while the Killington transfer station collected 75 tons of recycling in 2012, and nearly 82 tons in 2013, that number jumped to almost 104 tons in 2014, the year Zero-Sort was introduced.
RCSWD district manager Jim O’Gorman said that a lot of towns have seen trash go down since the recession — and especially with the introduction of Zero-Sort. But that didn’t happen in Killington. In fact, the Killington transfer station collected nearly 20 tons more solid waste in 2014 than in 2013, when residents and businesses dropped off almost 191 tons of waste.
“It’s not major, but it is interesting that those numbers have gone up,” O’Gorman said.

Comment How much did we spend on maintaining the visitors center? How much did we spend on all the plantings of flowers and dying trees along the roadside. How much did we spend on promoting events and paying the full salary and benefits of the KPAA's (a private concern) director? We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in support of businesses in this town and it can't support recycling which is a benefit to all. A $29,000 shortfall can't be covered? The town manager makes over $100,000 in salary and benefits. Maybe we should look there.