MONTAGUE — With budget season approaching and a new trash collection contract beginning next July, the Selectboard on Monday opted to keep the longstanding trash bag sticker price, even as the town prepares for the more expensive contract.
On July 1, 2024, Casella Waste Systems will take over trash and recycling pickup in Montague from the current contractor Republic Services, with expected fiscal year 2025 costs of $637,100, which is $99,600 more than this fiscal year’s budgeted amount. That money will “have to come from somewhere,” said Town Administrator Steve Ellis.
Since fiscal year 2023, on average, revenue from trash stickers has covered just over half of the costs for pickup and disposal — on any given year, the average costs uncovered are from 46% to 43%. Any uncovered costs are paid for out of the general fund.
Even with a more expensive contract on the horizon, the Selectboard opted on Monday to keep the $3 trash sticker price that has been in effect since 2007 for at least the first year of Casella’s work because residents will be paying for it in one way or another, according to Selectboard Chair Rich Kuklewicz.
“We’re either going to have to do something to come up with the extra $100,000 out of tax revenue in some fashion, or we raise the fee, but then that doesn’t affect our taxes, perhaps,” Kuklewicz said. “As was equated to me one time about some school funding, is it the left hand or the right hand that dips in the pocket to pay the bill? They both have to pay the bill.”
At $3 per bag — which Kuklewicz noted is a similar price to what’s being charged in neighboring communities — Ellis estimated about 59.5% of the year’s costs would not be covered by trash sticker revenue alone, therefore another general fund revenue source would be needed to cover it.
Other options Ellis laid out included raising sticker prices to $3.50 or $4 per bag, which would bring the uncovered costs down to 52.7% and 46%, respectively.
Fellow board members Chris Boutwell and Matt Lord agreed with Kuklewicz’s reasoning, with Boutwell saying that the elderly or those on fixed incomes may have a hard time adjusting to any sort of sticker price increases.
The Selectboard’s discussion comes six months after it decided not to keep Republic Services as its trash and recycling pickup contractor due to community dissatisfaction with the company’s lack of on-time collections.
“I’ve really had it with Republic Services,” Kuklewicz said in July. “I’ve had it with the excuses and the storytelling. The proof is in the pudding, and I haven’t seen very good pudding lately.”
Instead of renewing its contract with Republic Services, which was cheaper than Casella’s, the Selectboard opted for the newcomer’s bid, which spans FY25 through FY27. The contract begins with a cost of $637,100 and then increases to $668,955 in its second year and to $702,402 in the final year.
“As you look at the contract, if this was a standard procurement and there hadn’t been any issues with an incumbent vendor,” Ellis said in July, “it would be a fairly obvious choice which one is the better value proposition.”
As the new contract is set to begin in July, Ellis said Monday evening there may be some collection route reshuffling. He and the Selectboard intend to come up with some recommended rules and regulations for residents about how to have their trash picked up properly.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.