Danvers Trash Fee Debate Heats Up At Select Board Meeting

DANVERS, MA — A Danvers Finance Committee recommendation to charge residents for a combination of trash collection and the required purchase of barrels under the new waste collection contract in exchange for an increase in the school budget drew a spirited discussion — yet little consensus on a resolution before the annual town meeting — during Tuesday night's Select Board meeting.

Members of the Finance Committee proposed that residents be charged a phased-in $200 per year for trash collection and recycling in what was framed as an exchange for a $600,000 increase in the school budget to cover growing special education funding and to lower elementary school class sizes.

However, the logistics of such a shift — and whether the fees and funding could be a one-for-one trade or would constitute two distinct decisions — drew questions and criticism from some Select Board members.

Danvers is required to buy the new barrels needed for more automatic pickup service at about $1 million under the trash and recycling contract set to begin on July 1 with the proposed funding for that purchase coming out of the town's free cash. The Finance Committee, essentially, argued Monday that the new contract would be the right time to begin charging residents for trash collection and use any resulting available funds to bump up the school budget beyond the level-services budget — a 4.79 percent increase over 2023 — the School Committee approved on March 13 by a 3-2 vote.

Two of the School Committee members — Gabe Lopes and Joshua Kepnes — voted against the budget and in favor of requesting an additional $525,000 for the special education programs.

(Also on Patch: Split Vote Approves Danvers School Committee Budget Request For 2024)

"We believe that we have our priorities backward," Finance Committee Vice Chair Eric Mitchell said. "The Finance Committee believes we are doing a disservice to our students by not making strategic investments in our public schools. Our community is as good as its school system."

"We understand this represents a pivot at this point of the budget process," he later continued, "but we believe it's the right thing to do for the students and their families, but also for the community."

Finance Committee member Michael Landers allowed that FinCom would likely ultimately recommend the funding to purchase the barrels because the town has to under the new contract. But that it was to be determined what the recommendation for funding that purchase will be.

"We talked about a million dollars being expended by the town to buy people their trash bins," Landers said. "People right now buy their own trash bins. We do not buy the trash bins for our residents right now. With this new contract, there was a decision made, whether it was made by departmental folks up through the Select Board, that was a decision that would appear based on our discussion to be something that we do not agree with."

Landers said the trash-fee-for-education tradeoff was not necessarily the "them-vs.-them" argument that it was being portrayed but more that the Finance Committee objected to finding money for the trash bins and collection over potential other priorities — in this case, public school funding.

"This was looking at a policy decision to spend a million dollars in a way that I think it would be fair to say the Finance Committee did not agree with," Landers said. "We're going to vote next week the way we're going to vote and it's going to result in a recommendation and my guess is that people are going to be put into an uncomfortable position potentially among other folks as a result of it.

"So be it. Our job is to do what we think is financially prudent for the community."

Town Administrator Steve Bartha allowed that it did appear that the Finance Committee had the votes to change the recommended funding mechanism for the new barrels and that an increase in school funding at this point is likely more "a conversation for the boards outside of the normal budget process."

"Perhaps in June, for example, to kind of dig into all of the things that have been said last week and tonight to see if there is consensus among the boards moving forward on these issues," Bartha said.

Select Board Chair Daniel Bennett proposed a form of "budget conference" after the town meeting in June where representatives from the Select Board, School Committee, Library Board of Trustees and Finance Committee could discuss the issues "after the dust will settle."

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