'Pay More, Get Less': Beverly Trash Fees To Soar With New, Automated Pickup

BEVERLY, MA — Most Beverly residents will be paying four times as much for their trash and recycling curbside pickup under a new contract that is set to go into effect on July 1.

Mayor Michael Cahill held community meetings this week to outline the changes associated with the new automated pickup system amid pending contract negotiations with the forthcoming hauler.

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Cahill said trash and recycling fees will jump from $100 for most residential units to a proposed $425 for standard pickup, which will include a 64-gallon trash barrel and a 96-gallon recycling barrel.

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Residents who use less trash will have the option of selecting a 35-gallon trash barrel for a proposed $280 annual fee.

Cahill said the increases are necessary to keep pace with the rising costs of the new contract. He said the previous $100 fee covered about 30 percent of the final year of the current deal, which costs $3.9 million. He said the new contract will cost the city about $5.1 million, with plans for the fee to cover 100 percent of the costs to ease pressure on the overall operating budget.

"The reality is that we don't have a lot of other places in our revenues as a city to deliver the services that we need," he said. "The functions, the operations, the services that we staff, the costs keep going up more than the ability to raise revenues.

"That's why our goal is to propose to the City Council to increase fees ... that money is going directly into paying all (municipal) salaries, and the pensions, and the health care. If we don't raise these fees, we are talking about not being able to staff all of these critical services."

He said the exact fees will be set in collaboration with the City Council in the coming weeks.

Residents will also soon have to arrange for bulk and so-called "white" items — such as refrigerators, dishwashers and other appliances — to be picked up, and that service will now also carry a fee that Cahill said the city will no longer cover.

Spring yard waste pickup will be reduced from six weeks to three weeks starting next year, while fall pickup will remain at six weeks.

"I am not happy to be standing here saying that we are going to be paying more for these services," Cahill said. "Especially because it's clear we are going to be getting less. Pay more, get less. Nobody wants to be saying those words."

Cahill said the city is also looking to work with residents to produce less trash with the new 64-gallon or 35-gallon barrels since "overflow" bags will no longer be accepted. He said state regulations prevent the city from offering residents the option of a second, 64-gallon trash barrel.

"It is a big adjustment," Cahill said of the new automated system. "Once the bugs are out of it, I think it's going to be a great program for all of us going forward.

"We will be paying attention to make sure the bugs aren't that bad."

The city will continue to promote Black Earth composting — which includes a $100 fee per year, but also a $20 reduction in the trash fee — for curbside composting. There will also be an increase in composting drop-off locations beyond the current ones at City Hall and Bessie Baker Park — which he said will also now likely require a fee, whereas they were previously free.

Beverly is also working on recycling drop-off centers for city residents for cardboard, yard waste, textiles, Styrofoam, scrap metal, light bulbs, batteries and books.