Danvers $200 Trash, Recycling Fee Could Begin In July

DANVERS, MA — A $200 per household trash and recycling fee aimed at partially offsetting collection services amid a budget crisis expected for the next fiscal year and beyond could begin in July, Danvers Town Manager Steve Bartha told the Select Board at its weekly meeting.

Bartha said that based on a majority opinion of the Danvers Budget Conference Committee the fee was the most acceptable alternative to be able to continue level town services and create programs to curb escalating out-of-district special education costs and pay for expected increases in upcoming union contracts.

"We knew this spring (fiscal year 2025) was shaping up to be a difficult budget year," Bartha told the Select Board on Tuesday. "One where we would be looking at a tradeoff of a reduction of core services or finding new revenue sources due to inflation, out-of-district special education, which we have been talking about for several years, all of the collectively bargained contracts — town and school employees — that expire next June, Essex Tech, pensions, retirements, health care and, of course, the new trash contract.

"All of these costs are outstripping our ability to pay."

Bartha said that based on the consensus of the DBCC conference held last week he met with town departments on Monday and intends to put together a plan for the new trash fee to begin in July. He said he will present a full report to the Select Board on what appears the likely implementation of the fee at a November meeting.

Bartha said the town is exploring some options that may mitigate the fee — including smaller barrels for those who require less trash and recycling services, and who tend to be older residents on fixed incomes. He also said that he has met with the provider about the possibility of increasing recycling to every week if it does not significantly increase costs.

The consensus of the DBCC was to go with the trash fee over alternatives that included rezoning for greater growth and development in the town, revisiting the town's rejection of cannabis sales and capping the number of Danvers students allowed to attend Essex Tech each year.

Select Board members Maureen Bernard and Matt Duggan were the two Select Board members who spoke out against the trash fee.

"I would like to ask (Bartha) to consider all options with the cost for the residents, people who are on a fixed income — the elderly, veterans," she said. "We don't want to impose fees on residents anymore.

"It's getting out of hand."

While members of the BCC generally spoke in favor of the trash fee at last week's committee meeting, the response in the public comment portion of the meeting was once again decidedly split with some speakers supporting the willingness to pay for trash to increase the school budget, while others deemed it a tax and workaround Proposition 2 1/2.

Bartha said the $200 fee is in line with what some neighboring communities, such as Beverly and Salem, and would cover about two-thirds of the cost of trash and recycling the town now pays out of the general services budget.

Under the proposal, residents would be able to opt out of paying for and receiving curbside trash removal, and there would be exemptions for seniors and those with demonstrated financial hardship.

Bartha added during Tuesday's meeting that parameters for those seeking a second trash and recycling barrel were determined and that they will be available in November for an additional $165 per trash container and $100 per recycling container annually.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)