GREENFIELD — For the first time in 11 years, the fees for trash bags and trash stickers will increase in July, at the same time that Transfer Station entry stickers increase for the first time in seven years.
The increase comes upon a recommendation from the Department of Public Works, and is due to the significant increase in the cost for Greenfield to dispose of trash and recycling, according to Mayor Roxann Wedegartner.
“To make sure we continue recycling and continuing to encourage it, we had to increase income, and the best way within the city budget was to increase stickers and fees with waste and trash disposal,” she explained.
Wedegartner said the fee increases would bring in an extra $150,875 through trash bags and trash stickers, and an extra $45,000 via Transfer Station stickers.
Greenfield Department of Public Works Director Marlo Warner said he wants to remind people how the revenue helps the city.
“The money doesn’t go into the DPW, it goes into the general fund, which is the fund accessible to all the city budgets,” he said. “It’s going to offset what we would be taking out of the general fund.”
The Solid Waste Division of the Department of Public Works has three main revenue streams through which to offset costs: trash stickers, charges for disposal at the Transfer Station and window entry stickers at the Transfer Station, states to a press release from the Mayor’s Office.
As of July 1, the following new fees will apply:
■Trash bags and trash stickers — mini bag $1, small sticker $1.75 and large sticker $2.50 (an increase from 50 cents, $1.25 and $2, respectively)
■Transfer Station entry sticker, paid annually: $20 (an increase from $5)
■Transfer Station disposal of bagged trash $2.50 (an increase from $2)
All other charges for disposal of solid waste at the Transfer Station, currently charged at the gate, will remain the same.
Reach Melina Bourdeau at 413-772-0261, ext. 263 or mbourdeau@recorder.com.