Tiverton budget cuts: trash disposal fees may rise

By Tom Killin Dalglish
Posted 6/23/16

TIVERTON — Tiverton’s town-supported weekly curbside trash pickup system could soon be replaced by a fee-based system and higher costs for residents’ trash disposal.

It’s one answer …

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Tiverton budget cuts: trash disposal fees may rise

Posted

TIVERTON — Tiverton’s town-supported weekly curbside trash pickup system could soon be replaced by a fee-based system and higher costs for residents’ trash disposal.

It’s one answer devised by the town Budget Committee last week to close the gap resulting from voter-approved town budget cuts.

Outlines of the proposal were described by Town Treasurer Denise Saurette, and are modeled after trash management programs in Portsmouth and Middletown.
An "enterprise fund" would be established. A user fee would be assessed if people wanted curbside pickup. PAYT (Pay As You Throw) bags would still be used. All revenues would go into the enterprise fund, which would then pay the trash vendor.

Services would remain the same for trash and recycling, and the PAYT funds would still go to the landfill closure account.

Costs mentioned by Ms. Saurette are approximate, and are those for other towns. The PAYT bags would be $1.75 and $2. Cost for curbside pickup could be approximately $141 per year per household. A private hauler could cost $420 per year. The larger the number of households participating, the lower the costs (for example, 6,600 households participating could cost each about $100 per year).
The system could allow for one-time annual payments, and the use of "pick-up" stickers.

With actual costs still unclear, the Budget Committee voted (7-2) to reduce its own proposed budget by $500,000, to meet the FTR-imposed mandate.

"It seems like you're going after everybody and trash is the weapon of choice," said committee member Donna Cook. Ms. Cook was absent at the second meeting, when the vote on the trash proposal was taken.

The trash budget item reduction of $500,000 comes as a result of cuts — totaling $782,895 —the town Budget Committee must make before the July 1 start of the new fiscal year to its proposed FY17 budget that went to the voters on May 21, and was defeated.

At the May 21 Financial Town Referendum (FTR),voters approved Budget #2, put on the ballot by petition by Justin Katz, that called for a 0.9% increase in the property tax levy over last year. The budget proposed by the Budget Committee called for a 3.5% tax levy increase.

The voter preference expressed at the ballot box, was for lower property taxes.
To meet the mandate thrust upon it by the voters at the FTR, the Budget Committee met twice — on June 9 and June 14 — to cut its budget.

Several committee members, most notably Cecil Leonard (the committee's acting chairman), Louise Durfee, and Nancy Driggs, came to the meetings armed with different plans to make ends meet.

Where would you cut the budget, or add to it, and still stay with within the mandate and comply with the law?  Add your thoughts to the comments section below.

Mid-way through the first meeting, numerous proposed reductions had been floated.

One (proposed by Ms. Durfee) was to reduce by $100,000 the contribution to the police pension fund. At the second meeting June 14, that cut was reduced to $50,000.

Between the two meetings, Town Councilor Dave Perry (who formerly chaired the Budget Committee), passed around a sheet of paper with some calculations he had made, showing that a $100,000 reduction in the police pension contribution would cost the town $1.67 million over the next 20 years.

Other reductions the Budget Committee made to meet the FTR mandate included: siding and door for senior center, fire department heater, DPW roof, cesspool closure (total: $103,000); town council advertising ($7,000).

Items that were rescued from elimination, and not cut by the Budget Committee, included catch basin cleaner ($65,000); increase in library funding ($10,000); paving ($50,000); part-time building inspector ($18,720); heating for fire station #1 ($20,000); contingency fund ($26,400); fire department overtime ($20,000); police department overtime ($20,000); street light turn-off ($37,400).

At one point during the second meeting, a member of the audience rose to speak to the committee, and was ruled out of order. She responded by saying that Jeff Caron had been handing notes to Budget Committee member Nancy Driggs, so why couldn't she address the council.

Assistant Town Solicitor said he hadn't seen any notes, but that Mr. Caron's actions violated the Open Meetings Act. They were stopped.

Mr. Katz did not attend either of the two meetings.

As a practical matter, the annual tax difference between the two proposed budgets, for example, on a home assessed at $300,000, would have been $150. Taxes imposed on that house by the Budget Committee's proposal would have been $5,907, while Mr. Katz's budget would have imposed a tax of $5,757 on the same homeowner.

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