Select Board briefed on trash and recycling deficit; staff outline two rate paths

At an informational Select Board meeting on Monday, June 22, town staff presented a consultant's study showing the municipal trash and recycling enterprise fund is not covering costs and recommended rate increases to rebuild retained earnings.

A town staff member said the town's enterprise fund budget for trash and recycling is $2,308,450 and covers curbside pickup, recycling-center staffing and costs tied to mowing and monitoring a decommissioned landfill under a DEP permit. "Our current rate structure is not keeping track with expenses," the staff member said, and warned that, without changes, the town faces nearly a $2.5 million shortfall under current projections.

The consultant offered two paths. Option 1 calls for an initial roughly 12.5% increase in FY27 followed by smaller 5% increases in each of the next four years to rebuild retained earnings toward a suggested 20% benchmark; staff presented sample impacts showing a single-family (R1) bill rising by just over $13 initially, a senior-family rate increasing by just under $8 and a lifeline discount group seeing about a $5 increase. Option 2 would apply a flat 7.5% increase across five years, which staff said would build reserves more slowly and leave a small projected deficit into FY28.

Staff also recommended closing a long-standing billing "loophole" that reduces the incremental charge for second and third trash bins, saying treatment of multiple-bin households has been skewing revenue; staff estimated that closing that exception would affect about 68 senior households in the town and flagged equity considerations.

Board members asked detailed questions about other revenue levers, including municipal bag sales and fees for special items such as mattresses and TVs. A board member asked whether raising the bag price would materially help the budget; staff said bag sales are modest (about $15,000 in projected FY26 bag revenue) and that miscellaneous receipts from bags, mattresses and TVs totaled roughly $26,200 for FY26, making them "a drop in the bucket" relative to the structural gap.

On enforcement and operations, staff cited the contractor Yael Harvie's truck-camera system as a tool to spot improper bag use and missed pickups. Board members pressed staff on whether brush-disposal and other vendor costs are accounted for in a specific budget line; staff replied those costs have varied and had likely been covered with retained earnings rather than a stable budget line.

To help the board evaluate options, staff said they would return with more precise cost estimates at the July 6 meeting and recommended quarterly budget updates for FY27 so the board can monitor trends. The town's current trash contract runs through June 2027; staff said the town would review RFP and contract options before the existing agreement expires.

No formal votes on rate changes were taken at the June 22 meeting; the board moved to adjourn and the motion passed by voice vote. Staff will provide cost details and modeling at the July 6 meeting when the board is expected to consider formal action.