Facing rising transfer station operation and trash hauling costs, the Peterborough Select Board approved a 53% increase in the price of dedicated trash bags to support the maintenance of the town’s pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) program at a public hearing on Tuesday night.

Previously, residents paid $7.50 for a roll of 10 small 15-gallon bags, and $15 for a roll of 10 large 33-gallon bags, prices which haven’t changed since the program was established back in 1999, according to Assistant Town Administrator and Public Works Director Seth MacLean. Residents should now expect to pay $11.50 per roll of small bags, and $23 per roll of large bags.

MacLean said trash bag sales have traditionally offset the cost of waste hauling and transfer station maintenance, but recent price increases from Monadnock Waste Disposal (MDS), which Peterborough relies on for trash hauling, necessitated the change.

MacLean said that the program currently costs about $112,000 per year, split between the wholesale price of plastic bags and the cost of hauling, but they were anticipating a 6% increase sometime over the course of the next year, potentially bringing the total cost up to $119,000 per year. In order to break even, the town would need to increase the cost of bags by at least 43%, but he added that the Select Board members could consider a higher 53% or 60% increase in order to have extra funds set aside for any unexpected transfer station maintenance that might occur.

He noted that the Budget Committee and Select Board unanimously agreed that they would rather increase the price of bags instead of allocating operating budget funds to maintain PAYT. Peterborough established the PAYT program as a way to encourage residents to reduce their waste and increase recycling. Since residents pay for specialized trash bags, those who generate more waste pay more for the bags, while those who recycle more generate less solid waste and ultimately pay less, as they are using fewer bags.

“My inclination is to go with the 60% increase,” said Selectman Tyler Ward, noting that he was in favor of the larger increase to cover any potential future price increases from MDS.

However, Select Board member Bill Kennedy had some reservations.

“I think that’s a little bit much – I don’t see any reason why we can’t raise the prices every year,” he said, noting that residents would be more forgiving of smaller increases over a longer period of time instead of one large increase.

Town Administrator Nicole MacStay agreed, but urged the Select Board to consider an increase larger than 47% in anticipation of additional price increases from MDS and potential transfer station maintenance.

“That will insulate us for a few years,” she said. “I think it would behoove us to have at least a few bucks going into the bank.”

Kennedy acknowledged her point, but maintained that it was his wish to consider a yearly cost increase, so the board could continue to have an ongoing discussion about the issue. 

As a result, Ward’s motion for a 60% increase failed. Instead, Kennedy made a motion to accept the middle-ground increase of 53%. There were no comments from the public, and both selectmen approved the motion. Selectman Bill Taylor was not in attendance due to illness.

“Our commitment is to keep digging into this,” MacLean said. “This is an older program that was established long ago and has functioned fairly well, but it seems to be leaking a little bit at this point. The cost of the economy really hurts programs like this.”

MacLean said town staff have started to take a closer look at the transfer station and PAYT program in order to increase efficiency and keep costs down.

“We certainly want to make sure that we’re taking a harder look at the operation and also encouraging recycling in the community – it’s to our benefit environmentally, but also financially,” he said.