Since the issue of how to charge for trash collection continues to come up each year during budget discussions, the city this year is looking to form a committee of councilors, city staff, residents and business owners in the community to study various collection proposals.

That could include anything from taking the cost of trash collection out of the budget, where it is currently paid for through property taxes, charging a fee and reducing the tax rate to account for that, to leaving the collection as is, to various modified proposals. Proposals could include charging for different-sized trash bags or creating different fee tiers based on the size of refuse disposal.

City manager John Salomone said the current way the city charges for trash collection can be inequitable because it is based on assessed property value and not on the amount of trash each property owner actually accumulates.

“We want to make sure the people who generate a lot of refuse pay proportionally more than people who generate less,” he said.

The current method also does not charge tax exempt properties for trash collection. By instituting fees for trash collection, rather than paying for it through property taxes, for example, those tax exempt properties would also be

paying for the service since they also produce trash.

The proposed budget does not include any financial impacts from possible changes to the way the city charges for trash collection, so Salomone said the committee would have adequate time to study various models from other cities and new ideas. He suggested the committee could report back to council by Jan. 1, 2007 with ideas.

Frank DeOrio, director of municipal utilities, said the city may also look into modifying the procedure for dumping at the landfill.

Currently, individuals who purchase a landfill sticker may dump waste at the landfill without it being weighed, while those without a sticker are weighed when they come in. DeOrio said some people take advantage of having a sticker by dumping large amounts of waste throughout the day. The committee, he said, could also look at ways to adjust that procedure to address the problem.

In addition to discussing the municipal utilities budget, various departmental budgets in general government, including council and the mayor, the city manager, the finance department and the planning office, were also discussed Tuesday.

The city manager's budget this year included the elimination of one secretary position. There are currently two secretaries that handle separate duties in the office. The planning office may also lose an assistant position.