Dive Brief:
- Ohio’s Upper Arlington City Council may raise the city's annual trash service fee from $40 to $64 to provide funds, which have come from general trash program subsidies for several years –$223,512 was pulled in 2014 to compensate for a new recyclables collection fee and declining trash sticker sales, according to Finance Director Cathe Armstrong. In addition to the $40, households now pay about $100 for the trash stickers, required to be affixed to the containers.
- Another subsidy of $239,540 may be needed this year, which would rise to about $300,000 in lieu of increasing the trash fee or cost for trash stickers.
- The rate increase proposal has moved forward for a council vote, an increase that would cover the approximately $1.78 million to provide trash pickup in 2016. The city said it would lock in those costs through 2018 and that a subsidy would be needed only if the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio raised trash-dumping fees.
Dive Insight:
Stakeholders in Ohio have previously been proactive in seeking funds to support recycling and other solid waste management endeavors. This new proposed funding in Arlington has met both favor and protest.
Among council members voicing support for the fee increase are President Don Leach, David DeCapua, and Kip Greenhill.
"I will join in that crowd because I think it's irresponsible to kick the can down the road. The program needs to pay for itself," Leach said, adding that residents would still incur less expense than before the 1992 implementation of the $200 sticker fee.
"I think we have to deal with this now," said Greenhill. "I don't know how to avoid it unless we cut services somewhere else."
Mike Schadek, among opposers, called the fee "essentially a tax increase." Eric Yassenoff said council should subsidize the trash program at least one more year to work on a longer-term solution.
