Town digs in trash for cash

As part of ongoing efforts to avoid a 10-cent property tax hike, town officials reviewed policy changes in commercial refuse collection Thursday that could provide relief for a budget bloated with new expenses.

During a work session of the town’s budget review advisory committee, Chapel Hill Town Council members discussed eliminating commercial refuse pickup, which would initially cut about $600,000 from the budget.

“You are not going to find any large amount of dollars unless you make some policy changes,” said Town Manager Cal Horton.

But making any changes might be difficult because of an agreement with the county, which requires the town to send its entire waste stream to the county landfill in order to keep it viable.

One proposed way to eliminate commercial pickup — according to an early report from Maximus Inc., the committee’s consultant — is to allow privatization of solid-waste removal.

But there is some concern that such a move would stir legal issues if private collectors opt not to haul waste to the county landfill — a move that would force the town into a breach of contract.

“There is no legal way under law to require that someone take their garbage to the county landfill,” Horton said.

The town also is considering raising collection fees in order to recover a larger portion of the service costs. According to the report, the commercial waste collection program recovers only a third of its costs.

But Horton said he did not believe it would be possible to recover all costs for the service.

Former Chapel Hill Mayor and committee member Joe Capowski pithily broached a topic common to any budget shortage when he asked the council, “Do we have anything we can sell?” drawing laughter from around the conference table.

Horton went on to explain that the town had little land and few buildings that were not being used by the town or other organizations.

An exception is the old courthouse on Franklin Street.

Although it houses a post office, the Street Scene Teen Center and a branch of the Orange County District Court system, much of the building is dormant, said Mayor Kevin Foy.

“The courts value the use of it, but it is way underutilized,” Foy said.

Although the sale of capital assets could raise much-needed funds, council member Cam Hill cautioned that a one-time sale of assets would not be a long-term solution to budget problems.

But Maximus’ report, which is composed of many long-range policy issues, prompted concerns from several committee members who said the council should not lose focus on the current budget problem.

“We need to focus on those things that have potential to save us a great deal of money now,” Capowski said.

Committee member Gene Pease said the council should work to reduce the impending tax hike.

“The tax increase is coming from my point of view,” Pease said. “But I think that if the council has the cojones, I think there are significant ways to minimize it.”

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