The ad-hoc task force studying trash collection options in Falls Church continues to refine ideas as a key deadline draws ever nearer.
With two meetings down and two more to go, the goal is to now “get closer to a path forward,” said Deputy City Manager Andy Young, who is chairing the panel.
The most recent committee meeting, held June 25, represented “really good discussion [that] gives us things to work on,” Young said.
The City Council created the panel as part of considerations on moving away from current practice of paying for single-family trash collection through general taxes.
Some Council members seem supportive of moving to a version of the model used in Arlington, where single-family collection is paid for by the homeowners, without any taxpayer subsidy.
The challenge for Falls Church will be finding a way to switch without causing costs to rise, sometimes significantly, for those receiving the service.
The annual cost to homeowners could range from $300 to $450 per year, under scenarios outlined by city officials.
Moving to a fee-based system would allow the city government to cut the real-estate tax rate for all property owners between 1.5 cents and 2.1 cents per $100 assessed value.
For most owners of single-family homes, the tax-rate cut would not be enough to offset the trash collection fees being considered. Only owners of homes assessed at more than $2 million would see a net decrease in cost.
As a result, some on the panel have pressed for consideration of charging a sliding fee scale based on the value of a home or its square footage.
Discussion also focused on setting up a two-tier system depending on whether a home uses a 35-gallon or 65-gallon trash container. Most of the roughly 3,000 city households participating in the trash/recycling program currently use the larger option, according to city officials.
The task force is composed of city staff, representatives of the treasurer’s office and property owners.
Its role is advisory only. “Our mission is to provide some recommendations,” Young said.
However the costs ultimately are divided up, revenue will need to cover the roughly $1.15 million the city spends on trash-collection and recycling services annually. Leaf-collection efforts add another $265,000 to that total.
Two July meetings of the task force are planned, with a report due to City Manager Wyatt Shields by July 30.
Council members will receive the report in early August. If any policy changes are to be implemented during the city’s new fiscal year, action will likely need to happen no later than September.
City officials are planning to ramp up community outreach efforts so the public is aware of the planned changes. But officials acknowledge that summer is a tricky time of year to get the word out to the public.
Currently, residents receiving government-sponsored trash services see one weekly pickup on Wednesdays. Condominiums, apartments and commercial properties contract their trash collection services privately.
