Selectmen cut trash fee by $30 per household
Published on October 10th, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - The Selectmen voted 4-to-1 this Tuesday to tap the town's $1.4 million in free cash in order to reduce residents' trash fee bills by $30.
Selectmen veteran Robert Sweeney, who adamantly insisted that town officials had an obligation to refund a portion of the $200 refuse charge, claimed that the town could easily afford the $200,000 drain from the free cash amount.
With the discount, the $170 garbage cost will still be $10 higher than last year's bill. The giveback will be across the board, meaning the change will also apply to senior citizens or others on fix incomes, who already receive a reduced rate.
According to Sweeney, who easily swayed four of his counterparts to back the change - Selectman Paul Rotondi voted against the reduction - he looked at the $1.4 million influx of free cash as unexpected revenue that justly should be partly used to lower the trash fee burden.
"All of this money we just spoke about is unanticipated revenue. I believe we should cut the trash fee some bit, just to show the taxpayers that we're looking out for their interests," said Sweeney.
"A lot of people probably think we knew about this revenue all along and are just bringing it up now," the Selectmen later said of the free cash. "And that's just not true."
According to Town Administrator David Ragucci, he believed that giving a discount on the trash fee was not the right decision.
Specifically, Ragucci argued that the town still faced some dire fiscal situations in the years ahead, and that the free cash should be put aside to prepare for those deficits.
Based upon the Town Administrator's recommendation, $1 million of the free cash would be placed into the stabilization account and $400,000 would go towards the town's unfunded retirement liability.
The Finance Board has suggested that the deficit next year stands at $900,000, with the recent teachers' raise taken into account. However, that amount could soar to a $1.1 million gap if the town was to dole out a similar pay increase to its unions.
According to Ragucci, he sees the trash fee as a necessary evil for at least the next three fiscal cycles, although he suggested that a discount may be appropriate in that third year.
The Town Administrator has recently started pushing for a pay-as-you-throw trash system, arguing that method would reduce overall trash expenses through increased recycling and will better serve senior citizens and others who don't throw-out as much garbage each week.
"I treat Stoneham like a patient that has gone through a very traumatic experience. And that's the fiscal situation the town has gone through over past years," said Ragucci. "These moves [putting the money in stabilization and towards the unfunded retirement liability] help stabilize that situation."
"Giving back a portion of that trash fee only makes the problem worse next year. To do it now, just from a business sense, is not what the town wants to do. You're just not out of the woods yet," the Town Administrator argued.
Selectman Paul Rotondi, who voted against the trash fee for the past two years, agreed with Ragucci, contending that any free cash spent now would only result in a mirroring deficit in the years ahead.
According to Rotondi, after all the uncertainty during the build-up to last June's failed override, the town finally had a solid financial plan to work off of. To change that now, the Selectman argued, would only create problems and more uncertainty in the future.
Selectman George Seibold, who has sparred repeatedly with Rotondi about his vote against the trash fee, later prodded his counterparts newest challenge of the discount.
"I'm going to stick my neck out now, because I voted against the trash fee. But we've established a baseline for spending. And anytime we take a step back from that, it's going to ripple through the model and cause deficits down the road," said Rotondi.
"Well, if you felt that way, you should have voted for it to begin with," Seibold quickly countered.
"You know George, you don't understand basic math," Rotondi shot-back. "You don't know what you're talking about and I'm sick of you saying that. You can't just sit down and say we're going to do this or we have to spend that. You have to have a baseline."
Finance Board members John Warren and Richard Gregorio also spoke against tapping the $200,000 worth of free cash for the discount, but ultimately Sweeney's unfaltering arguments for the decrease swayed the rest of the Selectmen.
"I think you're trying and should be commended for that. But I don't think the state is giving out emergency aid so towns can give tax breaks or fee breaks to the public," said Warren, referring to the pothole grant recently awarded to the town.
"If we're going to put $1 million in stabilization, I wouldn't have a problem putting in $800,000 and giving the people a little tax break. That's money we never anticipated and it's certainly better than jabbing a stick in someone's eye," Sweeney countered.
"This is like a lottery ticket. Let's give some of it back," he later said. "We would have been tickled pink if free cash came in at $750,000. I thin we should do this to show a little gratitude to the taxpayer."
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