Beverly City Council Settles On 'Unhappy Medium' Trash Fee Increase

BEVERLY, MA — The Beverly City Council gave final approval to what Councilor Kathleen Feldman described as an "unhappy medium" proposed new trash fee that increases the cost from $100 annually to $300 for most residents.

The majority vote supported the compromise between Mayor Mike Cahill's original proposal to fully cover the costs of trash and recycling at $425 for most residents, and an attempt from Councilor Steven Crowley to lower the increase to $200 annually for most customers.

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The compromise triples the cost of trash and recycling for most customers, while still necessitating $1.4 million in additional budget cuts to supplement the costs that are absorbed in the general operating budget.

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"Nobody likes a big increase," City Councilor Kathleen Feldman said. "I do think that at this point in the process, with where we've come to at kind of a nobody's-happy suggestion of a $300 default, that might be the only fair thing to do with the amount of lead time that we have.

"As much as I would love to get that (additional $1.4 million in) funding back — we really do need that $425 default — I am hesitant as a Councilor who is aware that it will be a stretch for some."

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Feldman and Councilor John Mullady, who proposed restoring the full $425 fee, both said that it has only been when the consequences of making an additional $1.4 million in cuts have been clear that they began to hear a chorus of support to raise the trash fee to the higher level to protect those services.

Councilor Matthew St. Hilaire reiterated his push for no increase in the trash fee and for the $30 million City Hall project to be scrapped to make up the deficit.

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Crowley said that he has many constituents who will not be able to afford the increase this year, or next, in pushing for the smaller increase.

Councilor Scott Houseman cautioned that — whether at $300 or $425 — the fee increase represents only a one-year fix in the city's ultimate budget deficit.

"We ain't seen nothing in terms of the pain this community is going to face a year from now," Houseman said. "None of what we are talking about addresses the structural deficit. None of it. All it does is get us to a balanced budget for this year."

The final ordinance calls for a $300 fee for most customers, with the option of a $200 fee for those who scale down to a 35-gallon trash bin and a $400 fee for customers who scale up to a 95-gallon bin — with the default size of 64 gallons.

All recycling bins would remain at 95 gallons unless a smaller bin is requested from those who might have trouble maneuvering the larger one — though that would not affect the amount charged per year.

There were two amendments approved to the ordinance on Monday night.

The first was that the fee be reviewed every other year to make sure what is being charged remains in relative proportion to costs.

The second was to strike a provision that no new additional commercial businesses be covered under municipal trash removal.