The Westbrook City Council’s Finance Committee has eliminated the proposed pay-per-bag trash collection system in Mayor Bruce Chuluda’s budget.
At a meeting on May 10, the committee voted to remove $281,000 in anticipated revenue from the sale of bags and almost $74,000 in spending related to the purchase of trash bags and recycle bins in connection with the pay-per-bag program. In both cases, the vote was 5-1, with Councilor John O’Hara casting the dissenting vote both times. Councilor Suzanne Joyce was absent from the meeting.
In voting to remove those items from the budget, councilors said while they didn’t support pay-per-bag, they were committed to bringing a curbside recycling program to the city.
Councilor Drew Gattine, who made both motions to cut the pay-per-bag-related items from the budget, said he didn’t support asking residents to pay an additional fee for trash disposal on top of their taxes.
O’Hara, who has been vocal in his support of the pay-per-bag program, asked the committee how the members proposed to pay for a curbside recycling program without the additional revenue from pay-per-bag.
Councilor Ed Symbol, the chairman of the finance committee, said that he planned on looking for ways to cut spending to make up for the additional cost of the recycling program, adding that he felt “pay-per-bag was a tax no matter how you spin it.”
O’Hara responded by saying that he felt a pay-per-bag system spread the cost more evenly among everyone who used it, rather than just asking homeowners to pay the cost of trash removal.
“When we add it back in (to the property tax rate), we add it to the homeowner,” he said. “When we leave this the way it is (with pay-per-bag), it not only reflects the cost to the homeowners, but also to the renters and others who will use pay-per-bag.”
O’Hara said eliminating pay-per-bag presented no savings to taxpayers.
“You’re not gaining anything,” O’Hara said. “You’re not cheating the hangman here. It’s just you’re robbing Peter to pay for Paul because someone doesn’t like a program that was brought forward.”
In looking at ways to cut spending to help pay for curbside recycling, the committee placed several items on its so-called “revisit list,” a list of items the committee will consider once it completes its initial review of the budget. Some of the items on that list could potentially be cut from the budget to free up money for a recycling program.
Some of the major items on the revisit list include: replacement vehicles for the Public Services Department, including trucks and sidewalk plows; a part-time position in the Economic and Community Development office; a new parking enforcement officer position and four new full-time paramedic positions. Additionally, the committee chose to revisit the request by the city’s Human Resource department for a full-time workplace safety officer position, which was eliminated by Chuluda before the budget was presented to the council.
The finance committee will continue its examination of the budget at a meeting on Thursday, when it will discuss the budgets for the recreation department, legal services, the mayor’s office, general assistance, social services, transit programs, tax increment financing and city revenue. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in room 114 of Westbrook High School.
The committee will also meet on May 24 at 6 p.m. at room 114 of Westbrook High School for its final scheduled budget discussion. On the agenda that night will be the city clerk’s budget, the school budget and all of the items the committee chose to revisit during its initial discussion.
All budget committee meetings are open to the public and are also televised on cable Channel 3.
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