“We’re doing this to reduce our operational costs,” said Fred Stovall, Dayton’s director of public works.
Few communities in trash business
Waste collection is considered a key service in Dayton. The city provides the amenity with its own fleet of trucks and drivers. Some communities don’t offer the service at all.
Only a handful of local communities are in the trash-hauling business. Oakwood and Centerville are among them. Huber Heights, Kettering and Springboro have privatized trash service.
After studies in 1998, 2003 and 2008, Beavercreek officials found contracting with a vendor provided no financial benefit to citizens. So, Beavercreek residents arrange for their own trash collection.
“We find the free enterprise system works,” said Bill Kucera, Beavercreek’s financial administrative services director.
The Dayton City Commission on Feb. 3 voted to increase waste collection fees from $91 to $117.36 annually or $9.78 per month, which will be reflected on April bills.
“Four years ago, we considered doing away with recycling,” City Commissioner Matt Joseph said. “This fee is another affirmation of our commitment to recycling.”
Dayton’s waste collection rates are competitive, Stovall said. The Dayton rate includes weekly pick-up for trash, bi-monthly for recyclables and monthly for bulk waste.
“I believe we’re one of the most competitive and cheapest services,” he said.
Many suburban residents pay more for trash pickup
Kettering residents pay $19.77 per month for unlimited waste collection including recycling and bulky trash pickup through a city contract with Waste Management. The company also adds a fuel surcharge to bills that has ranged from $1.63 to $1.78 a month, over the last year.
“Until six years ago, Kettering residents arranged for their trash service individually with the registered hauler of their choosing,” City Manager Mark Schwieterman said.
“Results from a community survey confirmed our belief that residents would prefer a single hauler system in order to cut down on the number of trash trucks in neighborhoods and the frequency with which trucks were on neighborhood streets,” Schwieterman said.
Refuse made up 83 percent of Kettering’s waste stream in 2008, compared to about 17 percent recycling.
Since Feb. 1, Oakwood residents pay $12.50 per month for waste collection services, or $150 per year. Oakwood allows two bulk trash pickups per year. The weekly trash collection/recycle service includes backdoor pickup.
“You’ll never see trash cans on the street in Oakwood. We go to the trash can,” City Manager Norbert Klopsch said. “If you forget to put your trash out, call the city and we’ll go back and get it.”
Centerville residents pay $18 per month per household or $216 per year for waste collection services, nearly twice the Dayton rate. There also is a minimum charge of $25 for bulk waste pickup, said Rob James, the city’s director of public works.
In 2006, when Centerville increased its fee by $3, the city studied whether to privatize trash hauling.
“We spent a year looking at the service,” James said. “Overwhelmingly, (residents) wanted us to keep doing it.”
The city limits waste collection customers to five, 32-gallon containers. There is no limit on recycling.
Like Dayton, the goal in Centerville is to get residents more involved in recycling, James said.
In the 17 years Englewood’s Finance Director Janine Cooper has worked for the city, there have been discussions of providing waste collection in-house, but the idea has never jelled.
“It’s an expensive endeavor,” Cooper said.
Englewood contracts with Rumpke of Dayton for residential waste collection. For $11.78 per month or $142.42 per year, residents there get weekly trash/recycle service and bulky trash pickup of one item.
“It works the way we do it,” Cooper said.
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