One Community Reduces Trash Fees, But Still Higher than St. Louis County

Residents in Bedford, Massachusetts who pay the quarterly fee for trash pick-up will get a modest break starting in July, when the $54 fee will be reduced by $2. Their cost of $52 per quarter compares to approximately $36 per quarter for St. Louis County residents.

One big difference between the two programs is Bedford's program includes a "pay-as-you-throw component. A total of 704 homeowners use the pay-as-you-throw system, purchasing stickers for $1.25 or $2.50 that are affixed to individual trash bags depending on the size of the bags.

This means if you have very little trash and only dispose of one bag a month, your trash cost could be as low as $1.25 to $2.50 for the month or $3.75 to $7.50 per quarter.

Hello, St. L County Council members. How fair can such a program be? County residents continue to be upset with the mandatory charges for trash services even when they are not used.

Arnold Gets Lower Trash Costs Than St. Louis County

The City of Arnold, MO extended their contract with Veolia Environmental Services for an additional three years. Veolia will provide weekly trash pickup, weekly recycling and twice-yearly bulk item pickup for 6,700 residences. Veolia has provided the trash service in Arnold for five years.

In an effort to increase recycling, the city of Arnold is providing 65-gallon recycling bins to single and two-family residential houses. Residents already are provided 95-gallon trash bins.

While the Arnold population is considerably less than St. Louis County, their residential trash rates are also less. The city currently pays for the trash service, which will increase to $10.75 per home from $9.45.

As one resident put it, "Maybe we should have Arnold handle the trash collection situation in St. Louis County."

Have Your Trash Rates Taken a Jump?

Trash haulers blame the County. The County blames the trash haulers. In the meantime, county residents suffer with increased trash bills.

St. Louis County officials say they will ask the state attorney general's office to investigate. This is a bit ironic since the State Attorney General's office recently issued an opinion that St. Louis County is in violation of a state regulation requiring the county to give haulers a two year notice for implementation of their trash district program.

The county continues to move forward with the appointment of one hauler per trash district and claims prices will be drastically reduced. The county's chief operating officer, Garry Earls, said some residents in the county's unincorporated areas have received bills that are almost double their previous rates.

The county has selected a hauler for one district, with service slated to start July 1. It will open bids later this month for the other seven, where service is to start Oct. 1.

The county requires haulers to make weekly recyclables pickups which necessitated charging $5 to $8 a month for that service. Earls said he has asked the St. Louis County counselor's office to look at possible legal violations and will then contact the attorney general.