Signal Mountain Town Council members are considering the idea of separating garbage fees from property taxes, which would lead to an increase in what many residents pay.
"I think what you're going to see is people are going to see the garbage fee and the first thing they're going to say is 'what are my property taxes paying for?'" said Councilman Bill Wallace.
Town Manager Honna Rogers said she'd be happy to provide a breakdown of that for concerned residents. The issue will likely not be resolved until budget talks in May or June.
TOWN WEIGHING RECYCLING OPTIONSThe town of Signal Mountain is weighing the effects of offering curbside recycling to interested residents for $6 a month through an independent contractor."My guess is the people who are willing to pay for it are also willing to take it [to the recycle center], so we're cutting into the people we already have," said Councilwoman Annette Allen.Public Works Director Loretta Hopper said a similar situation in Alcoa, Tenn., caused drop-off levels to decrease by 20 percent. Signal Mountain is already paying more for operating the drop-off location than it is making from the operation."In fiscal year 2010, expenditures over revenues for the recycle center were $45,000. That's what we paid to have the recycle center last year," said Town Manager Honna Rogers. "This year revenues are up some, so we're looking at paying about $43,000. If you offset the value of landfill expenses, in fiscal year 2010 we paid $14,500 to have the recycle center."The coming convenience of single-stream collection could positively impact those numbers as well as the number of locals recycling. Hopper said RockTenn, with whom the town contracts for hauling materials, should have single-stream capabilities soon, allowing the town to follow suit."You don't have to sort it," she said of the new collection method, adding that plastics Nos. 1 through 7 will be accepted once it goes into effect. Single stream would not only make it easier for the public, but possibly cheaper for the town by reducing the number of hauls required, she said.The Recycle Bank curbside model studied offers the convenience of single stream at your door as well as coupons based on collected weight. It already services some of the mountain's residents but does not accept glass."I have concerns about us encouraging losing money," said Rogers.
Separating garbage out could lower property taxes across the board by about 18 cents, according to Rogers, but some council members said they'd rather see property taxes left alone.
"Costs keep going up. If fees are going up let's establish a fee and have it be designated for what it does and move forward, and leave property taxes where they are," said Councilman Dick Gee.
Each household in the town would pay the same garbage fee, estimated to be $10.50 a month, to cover the expected nearly $364,000 cost for the coming fiscal year. How that line item will appear in each household's budget will vary according to the cost of the house.
A house valued at $100,000 would see an increase of $81 a year; a $150,000 house an increase of $58.50 a year; and a $200,000 house an increase of $36 a year. Houses valued at $250,000 or more would pay slightly less than what they currently pay to fund garbage services through their property taxes.
As costs fluctuate, so would the garbage fee.
"The idea that we can cover increases in costs on the fly is appealing," said Mayor Bill Lusk. "The one thing that troubles me ... is it seems a little regressive that the folks who can least afford higher monthly expenses are the ones who are paying it. It doesn't address maybe the 'pay to throw' idea we talked about before - if you produce more garbage because you can afford to consume more crap, maybe you ought to pay a little more."
Rogers pointed out that under the current system more expensive households are subsidizing less expensive ones through their higher property tax totals. This is why the new structure appears skewed, since net increases and decreases are based on the decreased property taxes, which vary according to assessed value.
She also noted that more affluent households typically recycle more.
In her estimations and calculations, recycling costs were kept with those for garbage since both are forms of waste. The variable cost of fuel for hauling waste now robs other departments' budgets to cover increases, Rogers said.
While she stressed that the proposal is simply to show residents a true-cost estimate of garbage fees and be compensated accordingly, some council members theorized that it could lead to higher recycling levels. To this effect, a 'pay to throw' policy has also been discussed.
"It means you pay based on what you actually throw away, so everybody doesn't have an equal garbage fee," Rogers explained. "There are different ways to do that. In some places they weigh the cans or sell [garbage] bags, and they're expensive bags."