Franklin homeowners will likely be asked to pay for their own trash collection next year.
The Franklin City Council discussed trash fees Monday night, and directed the city attorney to prepare an ordinance that would pass on the full monthly cost of trash fees to homeowners.
The city has paid for trash for as long as it has provided trash services. For the past 10 years, the city has paid about $890,500 annually to Ray’s Trash on behalf of city residents for trash and recycling pick up. But as collection costs have increased and more residents have moved in, the expense has become too large a burden on the city’s budget, officials said.
Ray’s is asking the city for double the amount of the last contract because collection costs have increased. The new contract approved by the Franklin Board of Public Works would cost the city $1.7 million. That is $17.22 per month for automated weekly trash and biweekly recycling pickup, per household, times the 8,102 households in the city, plus $40,000 per month to collect trash at city buildings. That contract would include pickup via automated trash trucks that Ray’s would purchase to use in Franklin.
Both trash and recycling containers would be upgraded to 96-gallon rolling bins that are designed to be picked up and dumped into the trash trucks via attached mechanical arms. The monthly fee includes a trash and recycling bin, but residents could pay extra for additional bins.
The trash collection contract only applies to single-family homes. Business owners and landlords managing multi-family housing complexes in Franklin are responsible for paying for their own trash collection.
The city pays for trash collection right now out of the General Fund, which is a general-purpose fund that pays for a wide variety of city expenses including employee wages, public safety, paving, sidewalks and more.
For 2022, trash is $1.2 million of the city’s $18 million budget, which puts the city more than $500,000 behind in the General Fund. If the council does not pass on the cost to residents, most of the city’s $600,000 surplus would disappear, said Jeff Peters, the city’s financial consultant.
If the council approves the ordinance in January, residents would owe the city $17.22 per month, which would be added to their monthly sewer bills. The ordinance will be introduced at the council’s Dec. 20 meeting, with a public hearing on Jan. 4 and a vote on Jan. 19. In the meantime, the city will continue to pay Ray’s for continued services without interruption.
Homeowners can appeal to the board of works to shut off their trash service if they will be out of town for months at a time.
