Mayor claims citizens can opt out of curbside program if trash fee passes

(Editor’s note: This article is part of a series, detailing the Kokomo Common Council’s first reading on Oct. 28 of a proposed $10 trash collection fee ordinance. Keep watching the Kokomo Lantern throughout the day for additional articles on this subject.)

In the middle of explaining how a proposed $10 fee on trash collection would cover expenses, Mayor Tyler Moore also championed a clause in his ordinance that would allow people to opt out of the city’s recycling program.

During the Kokomo Common Council meeting on Oct. 28, Moore estimated that the trash fee would generate in excess of $3 million per year. The total cost of providing trash service exceeds $3.5 million per year, leaving a portion of the service to be covered by property taxes.

He also explained that the $10 fee is considerably less than what is charged in other communities and that it is more affordable than the fee charged by private haulers in the area.

"It costs around $18 a month to provide our level of service," said Moore. "And that's not just trash, but recycling, limbs, leaves, and other refuse services the street department provides."

Councilman Jeff Plough, who sits on the Howard County Recycling Board, asked the mayor about the curbside recycling program, expressing concerns about its cost and the community's participation in it.

"We have a number of citizens in the city who are utilizing their recycling bin as a trash bin, which does cost the city additional money as a result," said Plough. "Part of the problem is the fact that we're paying more for recycling than we are regular trash, and when those recycling bins are being used inappropriately, that's an extra cost that the city is incurring."

The mayor acknowledged this added cost, explaining that the city pays twice as much for recycling. And when a load is compromised by citizens disposing of garbage in a recycling bin, that load goes to the landfill instead.

Moore then highlighted language in the ordinance that would allow citizens to opt out of recycling.

"Citizens will have the opportunity to say, 'You know what? I'm not really big into recycling. As this gets rolled out, I'd rather have two trash bins as opposed to a trash and recycling bin,'" said Moore. "Part of what this fee will go to is a replacement bin, and that'll probably be rolled out, district by district, getting new totes replacing those that don't wish to participate in curbside recycling."