Before sunset? Clause for town tipping fee may get eliminated
GREENWICH — The Board of Selectmen may request a change in the tipping fee at the Holly Hill Transfer Station, possibly seeking to remove a sunset clause that could end the program later this year.
The selectmen discussed the request from Commissioner of Public Works Amy Siebert at a special meeting Thursday afternoon.
“It creates a bit of a hiccup for us,” Siebert said of the sunset clause.
Greenwich was one of the last municipalities in the state to approve a tipping fee. The RTM put the sunset clause in place last May when it approved the tipping fee.
Under that clause in the ordinance, the tipping fee would expire on Oct. 31, unless the Representative Town Meeting voted to extend the program.
But the uncertainty around the fee’s future makes it difficult for the town to estimate the revenue over the next year from Holly Hill as part of its yearly budget.
“We have had a lot of people do the right thing and get their permits” for this fiscal year, she said. “So we thought as a simple first step while the tipping fee is still being discussed to let’s try and suggest this change to the ordinance. Let’s take out the sunset for the tipping fee for the haulers going over the scale and for permits. This can allow our Public Works budget to work.”
It is also unclear how to begin selling permits for residents to dump trash at Holly Hill for the new fiscal year starting July 1, Siebert said. Should the town charge residents for the full 12 months for a permit, or offer a discount because permits might be needed for only four months, she said.
She also suggested that the sunset clause could be shifted to the end of June 2022 to be in line with the fiscal year.
Under the tipping fee program, residents pay $25 for a one-year permit to dump their trash at Holly Hill, with the pemit covering the fiscal year of July 1 to June 30. Commercial haulers using Holly Hill pay a fee of $112 per ton to dump waste at Holly Hill.
First Selectman Fred Camillo said that it was necessary to “get DPW on solid ground so it will know what it’s looking at for this next budget year.”
The Board of Selectmen did not act at Thursday’s meeting, keeping with its policy of delaying major votes to later meetings to hear from the public. The matter will be brought up again at the board’s March 11 meeting, which will take place at 10 a.m. over Zoom.
The change would also need the approval of the RTM. If the selectmen do approve the change on March 11, it would be in time to get on the agenda for the RTM’s April meeting. It would be able to get a first read in April, with action possible at the June meeting.
The RTM’s only business in May is typically the debate and adoption of the municipal budget.
Greenwich was one of the last municipalities in the state to approve a tipping fee. The RTM put the sunset clause in place last May when it approved the tipping fee. The goal was to cover the budget hole created by the rising costs of waste disposal and the collapse of the global recycling market.
Proponents pointed to the extra revenue from the tipping fee and said the policy would cut down on haulers from other cities and towns dumping their waste in Greenwich. But opponents said it could create a burden on commercial haulers and pointed to the huge gap in fees — with residents paying $25 for a year and haulers paying $112 per ton.
Siebert told the Board of Selectmen that there was a “lively discussion” around the topic, which could continue if the RTM looks at removing the sunset clause. Siebert said she hoped this suggestion would “get the discussion going.”
A waste management committee has been meeting since last year to evaluate the tipping fee and any possible alternatives.
“We want to make sure we come up with something that’s equitable as best we can for folks,” Siebert said in praising the committee’s work.
Camillo agreed, saying, “The waste committee is working on some ideas out there in the community that speak to fairness for everyone — like tiered pricing for permits. … They’re looking at options they can bring to us.”