To the editor:

The topic of waste collection here in Portsmouth is best examined as a case study in microeconomics. 

Ideally, the Town of Portsmouth would offer a town-wide curbside collection service paid through the tax base, coupled with a fee-based transfer station for diversion items, as done in neighboring Bristol. That way, reasonable residents would choose to utilize the service they already paid for through their taxes, and secondly, overall programmatic risk would be low.

Last May, the Town Council voted to fully execute a curbside waste collection contract starting July 1 of this year through June 30, 2030, which we are obligated to honor. 

Additionally, there are other moving parts to consider, such as potential grant programs to defray the one-time capital costs of the outdoor rolling toters — which depend on having a known “floor” of the number of curbside program subscribers.

Does anyone see where I’m going with this?

Arguably, the best approach would allow the free market to sort out the winners and losers in the local curbside collection market, but the short-term economic reality is that we simply must protect the taxpayers of Portsmouth from becoming the loser.

I urge our town councilors, even if it goes against your instincts, to hold your nose and vote in favor of keeping the exclusivity ordinance intact and in extension, in favor of protecting our taxpayers from unpleasant budgetary shocks for many years to come.

Ted Pietz

Portsmouth

Note: Mr. Pietz served on the town’s Solid Waste/Recycling Committee (SWRC) as its chair from 2017 to 2023. The opinions expressed in this letter was the consensus of the full SWRC as exhibited during multiple presentations to former town councils. While Mr. Pietz currently serves as the secretary of the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee (PEDC), the PEDC has not discussed this ordinance or the trash collection program as those topics are under the purview of the SWRC.