Danvers Trash Fee Comes Due After Year Of Intense Debate

DANVERS, MA — The $200 annual Danvers trash and recycling fee will soon come due after a year of vigorous debate within town finance committees, the Select Board and on the floor of two separate town meetings.

The fee, which was approved 3-2 by the Select Board this past fall and which withstood two concerted attempts at appeal during a winter and spring town meeting, will be billed $50 in each quarterly water bill. The fee applies to all residents who have one trash cart and one recycle cart that is serviced by the townwide waste collection.

(Also on Patch: Latest Danvers Trash Fee Repeal Push Fails At Town Meeting)

Residents can opt out of the program by completing an online form on the town website.

The new fee also includes free yard waste removal during designated times and the ability to have bulky items removed with the purchase of a special sticker.

The fee will appear on water bills that go out this month.

Those supporting the fee argued that it is necessary to avoid layoffs and cuts to other municipal services and departments in line with authority granted to the town executive branch under state government statute, with those opposed arguing that the fee is a form of taxation designed
to circumvent Proposition 2 1/2.

Town meeting members last month voted "no action" on the proposal to rescind the fee and voted down an amendment to request the Select Board find other ways to pay for the estimated $1.4 million in increases through the use of so-called "free cash," real estate transaction taxes and grants.

(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.)