SWAMPSCOTT — Residents who need extra room for their household waste will be able to lease a second automated trash cart for $160 per year and an additional recycling cart for $50 annually, after the Select Board settled on new fees following an extensive debate over fairness and costs.
The board also voted to keep the town’s blue overflow trash bags at $3 each, rejecting a proposal to raise the price to $3.50.
The new fees come as Swampscott prepares to roll out its automated trash and recycling collection system. Town officials said trash and recycling carts will begin arriving this week, with automated collection starting next week on residents’ normal pickup days. Officials acknowledged there will likely be “some bumps in the learning curve” as the new program begins.
Much of the discussion centered on how much residents requesting a second trash cart should pay. Select Board member Wayne Spritz presented calculations that detailed how hauling, tipping fees, and other costs have changed in recent years, along with national data on the average weight of recycling and trash in single family households.
Some members of the board pushed back on assumptions built into Spritz’s recommendations. Generally, board members agreed that the fee for an additional cart should not be punitive, and much of the discussion centered around balancing additional tipping and service fees while the additional weight of extra carts is unknown.
“I don’t think we should be jumping to the ceiling because that makes it a punishment to get an extra barrel,” Chair Katie Phelan said. “If you’re not the person who’s filling it to the brim, then you’re paying for a luxury you’re not actually getting or utilizing.”
Phelan pointed to families with young children who may only need occasional overflow space because of diapers or other temporary circumstances, suggesting the annual fee should reflect likely usage rather than a worst-case scenario.
Town Administrator Nick Connors recommended setting the fee at the lower end of the range previously discussed by the board, saying that he believed residents requesting a second cart should primarily pay for the additional tipping costs their extra trash creates rather than the fixed costs of collection service.
“My recommendation is that they pay for the tipping that is being added to the system,” Connors said.
Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher countered that residents using more of the system should contribute toward hauling costs as well.
“If you’re using more of the service, and you’re putting out more trash, I think that you should be paying,” Fletcher said. “You should be taking part of the burden of what it costs to haul that.”
Select Board member Danielle Leonard disagreed, arguing residents are already paying for their burden of the cost simply by leasing a second cart.
“We’re not asking for a second barrel for free. We’re asking to pay $150 roughly for a second barrel,” Leonard said. “Let’s not gouge people and punitively punish them because they’re asking for a second barrel.”
After weighing proposals ranging from $150 to $180 annually, the board settled on a compromise of $160.
The discussion over a second recycling cart followed a similar pattern, with board members debating whether a higher fee might discourage recycling.
“I think we are just disincentivizing people to recycle by charging them $102 for a second recycle bin,” Leonard said. “Ultimately, people recycling more helps this town.”
The board ultimately approved a $50 annual fee for a second recycling cart, about half the cost of the higher-end figures introduced during the discussion.
Residents interested in requesting additional carts can submit a request through the town’s online form or at Town Hall. Residents may also submit a request for a smaller recycling cart, though town staff noted that the initial inventory of smaller carts would ideally be prioritized to seniors and residents with mobility challenges.
