Last-minute questions before Port Huron's $285 trash fee takes effect July 1
Ahead of the new $285 fee to cover refuse collection that takes effect July 1 for Port Huron residents, there were still a few lingering questions for officials this week.
City Council members officially signed off on discontinuing the previous 3-mill tax that covered solid waste removal services prior and setting the annual billing rate per residential parcel to cover the cost of the next $14.1 million, five-year contract with Emterra Environmental USA.
Originally proposed as part of city budget talks this spring, local leaders reiterated the challenges that resulted in the change, addressing the remaining handful of concerns left among public commenters. The change also came with an ordinance update limiting the collection and disposal of solid waste and recycling to haulers contracted with the city.
Here are a few quick reminders for homeowners and residential property holders before the fee hits tax bills.
What caused the switch to a trash fee? What does it cover?
After another hairy leaf pickup season last fall, Port Huron officials said they’d take another look at options for refuse collection when its contract with Emterra was up this year. But when the services were rebid, Emterra was the only bidder.
The city’s next five-year agreement will cost 45% more with an annual cost rising from $2.6 million to $2.9 million — far more than the $2,077,000 reportedly raised annually by the millage.
Officials turned to the fee model citing both the need to cover the rising cost of the services covered by Emterra and level out an inequitable range in charges among property owners.
The fee eliminates a $20 recycling fee but retains the service. The new contract also retains vacuum leaf pickup, while also limiting bulk pickup to an item a week. The fee itself was based on a per-residential parcel cost and doesn't include commercial property.
Are business owners getting a freebie?
The short answer is no. During last Monday’s meeting, City Manager James Freed said that of the 100 and 160 parcels in the city’s commercial corridor that used to get trash pickup had already been notified they’d need to contract out services privately by July.
He added officials met with the business community the week prior and said the vast majority of businesses downtown already have dumpsters or some type of service.
Is the city locked into the current arrangement, or is there a fairer way?
The $285 fee payments were being split between summer and winter tax bills to ease the cost for residents facing an increase in cost versus the tax. According to officials, the fee was the fairest arrangement considered — Freed has said it's likely "a wash" in cost difference for most residents — though some of its components could be revisited at a later date.
One example was charging a fee per residential unit versus per parcel.
“I personally would prefer to see it as per unit,” said Mayor Pro Tem Sherry Archibald. “I know that’s not a popular thing to say to the landlords, but if we’re talking about fair, it’s more equitable than per parcel.”
Freed said they feared a per-unit solution would pass the fee burden on to unsuspecting renters rather than owners of properties where there was more than one household. He also cautioned that “there’s no perfect solution” but said they were continuing to look at other options.
“I have a whole task force we’ve assembled to begin looking at possible alternative options,” he said.
Could the city still get rid of leaf pickup?
Bulk leaf pickup was a contributing reason why, officials have said, the city only got one bidder for refuse collection earlier this year, as it’s not a common service among municipalities that contract out refuse collection. The alternatives without it, however, each pose a separate challenge should the city explore getting rid of it to entice competition from collectors.
The city has long-banned leaf burning, and earlier this year, Mayor Pauline Repp said state statute prevents them from returning to allowing the practice.
Councilman Conrad Haremza asked on Monday about the cost of refuse collection and if the pickup service could end.
But Freed said they’d have to rebid the contract to get concrete numbers on the cost difference and “risk even higher rates than we already have.”
The administrator also added, “The amount of tonnage of leaves we pickup are so staggering that without burning them, my own personal yard I have 200 bags. We are designated in certain sections of the city by the (U.S.) Department of Interior as an urban forest, and so, we literally have tons and tons and tons. The other issue becomes we have a stormwater discharge permit with EGLE under the Clean Water Act. We would have to clean our storm sewers out. It would just be an absolute mess.”
What if the city took on trash pickup itself instead?
The city oversaw its own trash pickup entirely until the 1990s when it was contracted out for a cost savings. In late 2022, Public Works Director Eric Director said the lead-up time to bring on the vehicles and staff to do so once again would be 18 months to two years.
Last Monday, Freed admitted it still wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities long-term.
“Maybe we start buying trash trucks, and we get back in the business ourselves. I think that’s something to look at,” he said. “The dynamics of the environment in which we operate have changed from when that decision was made, but I’m not sure. There’s a lot of questions I need to consult subject matter experts with who would know whether that is the appropriate course of action. We know that we have to do something. We need to find out what the best option is. That’s going to take some due diligence. But for the residents to know we haven’t just done this and called it good, we are continuing to actively look for alternatives of what we can do.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Last-minute questions before Port Huron's $285 trash fee takes effect July 1
