Trash debate returns as town works to maintain bottom line

On November 8th, the future of Chester’s trash collection was the main focus of discussion. Town Supervisor Robert Valentine expressed a desire for waste collection to remain a public service in town.

During an open hearing centered around the town budget, several residents voiced questions and comments regarding the proposed privatization of waste management services; which, according to the board, would be an effective way to shave down inflated town costs.

Although the move would be beneficial to the town budget, it would most likely leave residents paying more for a service that is currently included in their tax bill.

Valentine added that that was not the preferred method of approach for the board. Rather, he noted that the proposal was in part, a negotiation tactic in order to avoid paying the inflated quotes from Interstate Waste Services (IWS), the sanitation company that is currently contracted by the town of Chester for garbage management.

“The original contract came in at $1.4 million,” Valentine stated. “We brought our carrier in to discuss the contract, and one of the tools we used to try and negotiate that was the obvious threat of us disbanding the district and letting everybody get their own services.” The supervisor reiterated that the board’s preference was to keep waste collection as is. “By no means did we want to disband the garbage district... but we had to keep all options on the table.” Valentine went on to explain, “I reached out to other municipalities to see how they handle this...some other municipalities don’t include their garbage budget in the tax cap. It’s [part of] the user fee. With that information I went to the comptroller’s office and spoke with them. I got some good information.” The supervisor went on to say that he had the town attorney contact the comptroller, and now feels confident that they can remove town garbage collection from the tax cap, while keeping the public service. Finally, Valentine added that, if enacted, the move would “help town budgeting in the future.”

Tax cap

Later in the meeting, the board discussed a proposed local law to override the town tax cap. Valentine explained the proposal by noting that it is a necessity to raise taxes every few years to prevent the town from having to dig deeper into fund balances in order stay under budget. He added that tax increases are important for the town to remain in good standing with bonding companies, who Valentine says “frown upon” towns that don’t continually raise taxes. According to Valentine, this could lead to higher rates from the companies.