Tarentum residents will pay $10 monthly fee for extra trash cans

Jul 31, 2023

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Tarentum residents who require an extra trash can will pay an additional $10 a month for the service.

The borough on July 1 changed from unlimited collection to a new “cart service” contract through Waste Management, which allotted each property one 96-gallon can.

The $10 monthly fee is a switch away from an original proposal that would have charged $100 — paid upfront — for an extra can for the length of the three-year contract.

Council voted 5-1 on July 28 to enact the fee. Councilman Brian Snyder was absent.

Councilwoman Carrie Fox dissented, saying, “I’m totally against any resident having to pay $10 a month for an extra can.

“We already lost unlimited service,” she said. “This isn’t fair.”

Waste Management’s cart service was the only option council had for garbage hauling, Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said.

“We put out bids for a new garbage hauler and we didn’t get any,” he said.

Residents will continue to pay the same cost, $25 a month, but that’s limited to the one 96-gallon can.

Boddorf said the proposal to charge the one-time, three-year $100 fee for an additional can would have cost the borough money.

“We pay for service for 2,200 cans,” he said. “That was the minimum required for the contract.”

The borough has 1,826 people currently paying for service.

“If we continue to sell the extra cans for $100 for three years, the borough is going to lose money,” Boddorf said.

If that happens, everyone’s rates will go up, he said.

Council could have enacted a $25 fee per-month for each extra can, which is what the borough pays.

But they agreed to find a middle ground.

“We want to recover some cost but not bankrupt residents,” Boddorf said.

So far, 68 residents have requested an additional can.

Councilman Brian Nolan said people who are getting extra service should pay for it.

Council President Scott Dadowski agreed, saying “if you use more electric, your bill is higher.

“It would be different if most people needed a second can. That would be a different conversation. But if I have a need for more, then I should have to pay more.”

Councilman Brian Snyder said he believes most people would rather pay $10 a month than pay $100 upfront.

“The nice thing is, if you decide you don’t need the second can, you give it back and the fee goes away,” he said. “They wouldn’t get the $100 back if we chose that option.”

Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

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