Garbage plan could save city, cost residents

Shelbyville's city council will vote up or down next Thursday whether to implement a garbage collection fee to pay for a new collection system.

The proposal, explained to the city council in June, could save Shelbyville as much as $700,000 a year -- but residents would also see an additional $9 tacked onto their monthly electric bills.

Shelbyville City Manager Ed Craig noted at the time that one thing Shelbyville does not do that "almost everybody else does" is charge for garbage collection.

The proposed fee would be utilized to pay for a new collection system, one that uses a style of truck council members referred to as "one-armed bandits" that only require one person to operate.

Currently, Shelbyville uses two rear-loader trash collection trucks that are operated by a three-man team to pick up solid waste from approximately 6,800 residential customers.

Apartments and trailer parks are provided with three dumpsters, serviced weekly, and more than 200 businesses that use no more than the four 34-gallon trash containers also have their waste picked up weekly.

Shelbyville isn't charging any of these customers for the service right now, and the proposed 2010 sanitation budget is $774,199, with $1,500 in revenue and $775,699 in expenses.

Under the proposal, the city would provide residences with specially-designed, 96-gallon trash receptacles, which would be property of the city. Replacement or additional containers could be purchased by the customer.

Residents in trailer parks and apartments would have their own containers -- and their own fees on their power bills.

Craig explained to the council in June that the cost of two trucks and approximately 8,000 containers would cost about $1 million, with the trucks costing $250,000 each and the containers $60 each.

The city would have to borrow the funds, but Craig told the council that with an estimated $63,000 monthly revenue from the fee, balanced against the TML loan payments, depreciation, and operating expenses, the net cost to the city for garbage collection would be $5,928 a month, or $71,133 a year -- compared to the $774,109 that has been budgeted for 2010.

The city manager also explained at the time that the automated system would also save money for the city in workers' compensation, where the rate is high for sanitation jobs.

Craig said in June the proposal would eliminate four jobs at a savings of $150,000. Those people would not be terminated, but would be absorbed into the department by attrition since the street department is three people short, Craig said.

The workers would be taken into other departments as jobs became available due to people retiring, quitting or being terminated over a period of time, he added.

If enacted, the new trucks would be able to serve 50 percent more households per day and the containers would give the city a neater appearance. Also, the containers are wheeled, and easy to maneuver.

The fees in other cities range from $9.20 (Pulaski) to $13.43 (Manchester), according to a Municipal Technical Advisory Service report.

Also, anyone on a low-income-based tax relief program would not be required to pay the additional fee.

Craig stated at the time that the automated system could be in place by January and that one company they are considering, Stringfellow, produces excellent educational material about the system and works with residents to get them used to the concept.

-- Staff writer Mary Reeves contributed to this report.