Portsmouth sets sticker fees for compactor, curbside

$290 with PAYT bags for transfer station, $460 for curbside

By Jim McGaw
Posted 1/15/25

PORTSMOUTH — The town has set new vehicle sticker fees to use the transfer station and, for the first time, a separate curbside collection program that begins in July.

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Portsmouth sets sticker fees for compactor, curbside

$290 with PAYT bags for transfer station, $460 for curbside

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — The town has set new vehicle sticker fees to use the transfer station and, for the first time, a separate curbside collection program that begins in July.

The Town Council Monday night voted 4-2, with one abstention, to set the 2026 fiscal year sticker fee for the transfer station at $290, while retaining the use of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) bags. Council Vice President David Gleason and council members Mary McDowell, Sharlene Patton, and David Reise voted in favor of the motion, with Council President Keith Hamilton and member Juan Carlos Payero opposed. Council member Sondra Blank abstained.

RELATED: COUNCIL MAJORITY AFFIRMS CURBSIDE ORDINANCE

The current transfer station sticker fee was set in late 2023 at $385 for an 18-month period from Jan. 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The reason for going with an 18-month rather than a 12-month sticker was to bring the transfer station budget in alignment with the municipal budget, something town officials had long desired. 

The $385 sticker fee translates to $256.68 per year, so the new fee will be about $33 more.

For residents opting for curbside collection rather than using the transfer station, the council unanimously set the fee at $460, using 95-gallon trash bins. The town could have gone with smaller, 65-gallon refuse carts — some believe they encourage more recycling — but decided to go with the larger bins because they seem to be more popular with residents and added only another $4 to the sticker fee.

Both sticker fees are good from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. 

The transfer station fee is based on an assumption that 2,200 households will use the facility next year. For curbside, the town is banking on about 4,000 households signing up. If fewer people than expected take part in either program, of course, the town will have to make adjustments going forward. Both programs operate under enterprise funds, meaning they aren’t in the tax rolls and must pay for themselves.

‘Disconnected’

One resident protested the council’s intent to set the sticker fees, claiming that most citizens had no idea the action would be taken Monday night. 

“I don’t think the town’s got a clue that those are the decisions you’re making tonight,” said Scott Boyd of Kensington Avenue.

The agenda was duly advertised, however, and the title of the action item clear: “Request Approval of FY 2026 Curbside And Transfer Station Sticker Fees.”

“Most of us are disconnected from town government,” Boyd said. “The details are lost on most of us.”

Boyd added that he stopped using the transfer station when the town switched over to PAYT bags. He suggested the town get rid of the bags for one year, and if things don’t work out financially they could return the following year. 

In any event, Boyd said, “We should pay by the pound at the transfer station.”

The transfer station sticker fees are normally set in December, but that action had to be delayed due to the vote last month to consider rescinding an ordinance to allow an exclusive vendor contract for curbside collection. If the ordinance had been repealed, the cost structures for both the transfer station and curbside collection would have been altered.

Portsmouth Town Council, transfer station, curbside collection, sticker fees

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Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.