Trash Discussion

Effective and efficient trash removal is important for the public health of the community.  This expense has been historically built into our budget. 

Past Points of Interest

In FY2001, the voters passed a $600,000 override specifically for curbside trash pickup. To see how this has impacted our tax levy since then, click here.

In FY2025, the town administration reallocated funds from the trash budget in order to fund shortages and balance the budget.   This was not voted on by community members. 

This happened due to a technicality in way the Town Meeting voted.

Since the Town had already signed a contract with the hauler, there needed to be a way for the service. The Board of Selectmen implemented a “Pay As You Throw” (PAYT) program. PAYT requires residents to purchase specific bags to dispose of trash, with the receipts from the bag sales going toward the hauler contract cost.  The sale of “purple bags” did not cover the gap in funding. The Board of Selectmen utilized ARPA Funds to satisfy the contract.

Present Day Issue

As the town plans for its FY2026 Budget, the topic of trash has reemerged. 

Despite receiving a fair 3-year contract from the hauler (FY2026 cost is $780,000 “all in”, so not based on quantity), the town is anticipating receipts of approximately $480,000 for purple bags.  This leaves a gap of approximately $300,000 to apply to the trash fee. 

The contract has not been signed as of March 20, 2025; however, the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Health both voted to accept it and assured the hauler it would be signed. 

The unknown is how to fund that shortage. 

While not official, here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Operating Budget Approach

Cover the additional funds needed by building it into the operating budget. 

Community members can simply vote to include the entire shortage in our town budget and override calculations. 

This is the simplest option, but it would also impact the permanent tax basis the greatest.

2. Fee Approach

Establish a $125  fee for residents participating in trash pick up to fully cover the shortage. 

The cost per household to fully cover the shortage is $125 as determined by the Municipal Assistance Coordinator at MassDEP, who also happens to be a Townsend resident. 

If a vote established a $125 fee to cover the gap in full, the purple bags requirement will still be in effect. 

This would have the least impact on the future tax basis.

3. Hybrid Approach

Establish a fee for residents who continue to utilize the curbside trash benefit to close the gap, and cover the remaining shortage from the operating budget. 

Establish a small registration fee of $30 ($50 if paid late) for households participating in curbside trash pickup. This would reduce the shortage by approximately $100,000 - $150,000. The remainder would be built into the operating budget. This would be easier to absorb for the town at the reduced amount, and would also have less of an impact on the permanent tax basis.

A solution is needed as losing the curbside trash program will increase costs to community members.

Looking Towards The Future

A long-term solution is needed. 

As the goal of reducing waste is realized, purple bag sales may decrease. This is a double-edged sword. Less waste is a goal, but revenues are needed to continue operating the PAYT program. 

There are some savings to be realized if the purple bags are purchased in bulk in advance of selling them to residents. Pre-purchasing requires an upfront cost. Additional costs might not be practical at this time, but perhaps, long-term costs could be obtained and other/available funds used for this purpose.  

A cost-effective review needs to be conducted on the twice-per-month pickup rather than a weekly pickup. At the December 3, 2024, Board of Selectmen’s meeting, the Town Administrator was instructed to obtain pricing for both options. As of March 22, 2025, no information has been shared.

Approximately 3,000 households are currently utilizing the curbside pickup service, and only 200 households have opted to arrange for services directly.

We want to be clear that although we have not been provided with the budget figures yet, we are confident in saying that the proposed override will be made up of many different departments, all of which we will detail for you. Although we are discussing a $300,000 shortage here and a $625,000 override amount, that does not mean that half of the override is caused by the curbside trash program. 

Here’s the thing – we don’t really know how this will impact any override because we don’t have any information as to how the override was calculated. At the March 11, 2025 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, they said that if we included trash without a fee, cut all departments (except Public Safety) by 20%, and close all buildings on Fridays, the override needed would be approximately $876,000. Completely removing trash from the budget, the override would be approximately $476,000. So where did this $625,000 figure come from – that includes no cuts to salaries or reductions in hours, and fully funds trash? The math isn’t making sense. 

This is just another sign that we need to slow down and get all of the information before making a decision on anything. We can solve this, with a little patience and a group effort.