City lawyers to look at yard waste fee hike

City attorneys are looking into the legalities of having the City Council get the last word on fee hikes in the yard waste collection program whose cost is set to rise 70 percent to cover its expenses.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski said he made “a bad error” in mistakenly backing the increase from $50 to $85 annually during a recent Public Works Board meeting.
“It was my fault for letting it slip through,” Rimcoski said. “I dropped the ball.”
But, he said, the council “should have the final say” rather than letting department jack up fees so sharply without any direct council involvement.
“If we’re going to take the grief for it,” Rimcoski said, then politicians ought to have a role in setting fees that residents have to pay.
Mayor Art Ward said that departments have to take the responsibility of making sure that fees cover the cost of operating programs.
“They should have the jurisdiction over their operation,” the mayor said, adding that he’s ordered them to review their fees in anticipation of the next budget to make sure that fees are keeping up with expenses.
City Councilor Craig Minor said that politicians need to know “when to draw the line” in overseeing charges to residents.
He said that he generally favors letting departments deal with fees themselves or councilors could wind up weighing what library fines should be.
Dale Clift, the city attorney, said his office will take a look at the relevant ordinances and determine the authority for setting fees.
He said that once lawyers figure out which legal provisions apply, they’ll refer the issue to the proper committees, including the council and public works panel.
Public works commissioners hiked the fee for the yard waste collection program this summer after recognizing the $50 annual charge it has had for nearly a decade wasn’t enough to cover rising costs.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Yard waste program costs to rise sharply

The cost of participating in the city’s yard waste collection program is set to rise sharply.
Those choosing to participate in the green waste collection program will pay 70 percent more next year than they have had to shell out for the past several years.
A city panel recently agreed to hike the fee from $50 to $85 annually in order to cover the expense of running the program.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski, who voted for the change in committee, called the increase “ridiculous” and insisted that the City Council should have a shot at trimming it back.
Rimcoski said that with so many residents scrimping to pay for fuel and taxes, there’s no excuse for hitting up residents for such a whopping increase in one program.
Mayor Art Ward said he wishes that the cost didn’t require such a large percentage increase.
But, he said, it’s important that a voluntary program covers its costs so that taxpayers as a whole don’t wind up subsidizing a service that is not required.
The mayor said that city officials need to do a better job of staying on top of rising costs so that increases are done regularly instead of waiting for years and then socking taxpayers with “phenomenal increases.”
“It’s not fair to the taxpayers to experience sticker shock,” Ward said.
Bristol is one of the few municipalities in the state to offer curbside yard waste collection.
The city started offering the fee-based, curbside program a decade ago after state environmental regulators barred anyone from tossing grass clippings, tree branches and other yard-related leftovers in the garbage.
Most towns have done nothing to help residents cope with the state-mandated ban on yard waste in trash.
The $50 annual fee has been in place since at least 2001.
Officials said when they began the program that giving people the chance to put out one big barrel of yard waste weekly is a benefit to many.
They also said they would continue the program as long as it supported itself. They said they wouldn’t subsidize its expense.
But as fuel costs rose and employee salaries went up, the fee remained the same until this year.
Ward said that he hopes every department at City Hall will take a look at its services and make sure that the fees charged cover as much of the cost as they should.
That’s one way to hold down next year’s budget and limit tax hikes, he said.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com