North Adams Mulling Transfer Station Fee Changes
 Resident Mark Trottier asks a question during Friday's Finance Committee meeting. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The administration will be asking the City Council to consider a change in the fee scale for waste disposal.
Administrative Officer Michael Canales at Friday's Finance Committee explained the options for a "pay as you throw" system designed to meet the actual costs of operating the transfer station.
North Adams is facing a budget gap of $542,000 for fiscal 2016; the transfer station alone is costing residents more than $370,000 to operate than it takes in.
"Pay as you throw" calculates costs based on actual expenses — bags, operating, disposal — and volume.
"The city should implement this because what it allows is that every household pays its fair share of trash disposal," Canales said. "It also had been proven to increase recycling and overall reduce the amount of waste."
Canales said the amount of tonnage has declined while at the same time the cost for disposing of it has risen over the last few years from $69.71 per ton to $72.52 in fiscal 2016. Adding in another 10 percent for noncompliant waste charged back to the city, the cost to disposed of waste is just about what is charged at $80.
But that's not taking into account labor costs, insurance, electricity and other expenses to operate the transfer station, he said. "At one point, in 2006, ... we were creating another $200,000 to cover the other expenses. ...
"Last year, we were barely just taking in enough to cover the cost to get rid of it. But not we're not covering any of the other costs associated with the transfer station."
Plus, about a third of the customers are non-residents, Canales said, meaning they are paying the $80 but taxpayers are picking up the balance of the cost to run the operation.
Next year's budget for the transfer station is $1.34 million; revenues based on a flat $80 per ton are estimated at $969,000. Canales said taking everything into consideration, the charge would be $110 per ton. What would actually be associated in the cost would be up to the mayor and City Council to decide.
The administration is currently estimating a "pay as you throw" system would cost $2.19 for a regular bag, up from $1.75; a small bag would actually drop from $1.25 to 96 cents. Canales said he did not know how the current bag costs were determined.
The new system would cost a family of four about $63 more a year but that could be reduced by more than half through more conscientious recycling. Sticker prices would be reduced and the fees set aside in an enterprise fund to cover any capital projects. The facility has run into trouble with the Department of Environmental Protection in recent years for not being permitted and for having a number of violations.
Canales said he would have a more detailed plan to show the Public Services Committee and City Council. The options on the table have been to stop commercial hauling to the transfer station or closing it completely.
In other business, the committee also heard from Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau, who said his $3 million budget is basically level funded from this year.
 Part of the presentation on transfer station fees. |
"We're running on a shoestring and we can't cut anymore," he said.
He anticipated some savings through the departure of four workers — one each in parks and cemetery, and two in the Department of Public Works. Three are retiring and the fourth has found another job. Lescarbeau said it may be possible to hire part-timers for one or more positions.
"We're also looking at contracting, like for mowing, to see if it is cheaper and more consistent," the mayor said. The idea is that contracting will keep crews working whereas if there's a water break, city crews have to stop what they're doing to deal with the emergency.
"Whether we use this money to contract out or hire part-timers, it will impact services," he said.
Currently the snow and ices account is over by $170,000; Lescarbeau said road salt had jumped to $20 to $22 a ton and the city had used 228,000 tons this season. Snow and ice is the only account that can have deficit spending and Mayor Richard Alcombright said some of that may be covered by unexpended funds in other accounts.
The Finance Committee also reviewed the classification plan. Alcombright and Canales said they were revamping the plan to show what positions are "active" by listing them first under each department heading.
The city has hundreds of job classifications that must remain on the books for pension purposes. Posts may no longer be filled because the job is no longer needed or a new position was created that may have incorporated the duties of the older one.
Alcombright said the major change would be raising the veterans agent's salary to $45,000.
"Stephen Roy does an excellent job covering six communities," he said. "What we looked at is what similar positions in the community are paid ... we found he is far underpaid but workload is much higher."
The agent's salary is part of the city's budget but it gets reimbursed (including benefits) in part by the other five towns based; the increase will cost the city $3,980. Roy's salary will start at the 5- to 9-year mark based on his seniority. The committee asked that the prior and future years be adjusted to denote the change in salary and Alcombright agreed that should be done.
The mayor also said the city is looking into selling its tax titles as a bundle to a vendor to get the debt off the books. There is about $2.5 million outstanding, much of which is not viable to pursue because of legal fees or because the property is worthless. The mayor noted as an example the two large apartment houses on East Main Street that were demolished several years ago, leaving a hillside that no one would build on.
The committee also briefly reviewed the annual audit letter by Scanlon & Associates. The mayor said the comments this year again mostly referred to procedural issues that are being addressed.
"It's very laborious to write policy procedures," he said, but Auditor David Fierro Jr. was working on them.
While the Finance Committee did not think it necessary to call Thomas Scanlon to address the council, resident Mark Trottier said "the public should have the right to ask questions." The mayor said he would ask Scanlon to attend a meeting.
The two-hour meeting was recessed at the halfway mark when council gadfly Robert Cardimino began arguing with the mayor and refused to sit down. The police were called to escort him from the building.
Tags: fiscal 2016, municipal budget, public services, transfer station,
