DeKalb County may move to once-weekly trash collection next year in a bid to hold the line on its fee for curbside pickup, already the lowest in metro Atlanta.
The move under consideration by the County Commission also could free sanitation workers to help clean up cluttered right-of-ways and keep roadsides mowed and raked.
“Instead of a second garbage pickup, you get beautification services,” said County Commissioner Jeff Rader, who is behind the idea. “Everything else is going up, but we can hold costs steady here and offer more services at the same time.”
Faced with tight budgets and the threat of tax hikes for the past few years, residents have repeatedly urged the county to cut back on trash pickup.
But even with this summer’s 26 percent jump in the tax rate, trash pickup has remained the same. That’s because DeKalb pays for sanitation through fees, not property taxes.
DeKalb provides trash pickup twice a week and once weekly collection of yard waste. For that, with no limit on how much can be set out, residential properties pay $265 a year.
Neighboring Gwinnett County limits trash pickup to 96 gallons and collects trash once a week. Residents there pay $218 for the trash pickup and another $120 for yard waste, limited to 12 bags.
Atlanta, which also limits pickup to 96 gallons, charges $395 for its once weekly service and yard waste collection. It also is considering a new $75 fee for excessive garbage or bulk items.
DeKalb can offer more services and a lower price largely because it owns its Seminole Road landfill. The county plans to expand that landfill, a $13 million project that would force a $35 increase to the sanitation fee by 2013.
Going to once weekly pickup would allow the fee, which last went up in 2006, to stay the same through 2015, said Ted Rhinehart, the county’s deputy chief operating officer for infrastructure.
It also would gradually let the county eliminate 100 full-time jobs, mostly through attrition, and at least 25 collection trucks. Surplus vehicles and gear would be sold.
And more workers would be free to clean up roadways of litter and debris, as well as handle the mowing and landscaping on county land along those roads.
The county now spends $500,000 a year for that work, money from the sanitation department that covers only one or two cleanups each year.
Still, some residents are wary. The county’s reputation for weak code enforcement makes some fear DeKalb won’t crack down on homeowners who don’t keep their garbage secure.
Robert Blackman has been pushing for increased code enforcement in the county for a year. The image of wild animals and pets ripping apart bags and scattering trash across his Stone Mountain neighborhood gives him pause.
“If we clean up the highways and mess up the neighborhoods, what’s the use?” Blackman said.
Even requiring the use of cans or carts wouldn’t satisfy Michael Sharbaugh. He keeps his garbage can behind his Forrest Hills house to keep his neighorhood looking nice, but doesn’t want it sticking around for long.
“I would just as soon pay for more pickup,” Sharbaugh said. “It stinks after two days. That’s gross.”
Rader hopes to address those sorts of concerns with a formal proposal for change later this year. Any change would take several months to implement, so that residents could get accustomed to their new pickup days and workers could develop a smooth schedule.
Plans also call for eliminating the $30 the county now charges for a recycling bin and first box of recycling bags, adding that collection into weekly pickup for free.
“There are a lot of reasons to recommend this as a strategy,” Rader said. “I would like us to implement it as soon as possible.”
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