Editor:
Mount Penn contracts with two companies to provide solid waste disposal services, including trash, recycling, yard waste and bulk item collection.
Our contract covering 2020 through 2022 expired. Typically, a municipality would open bidding for another three-year contract.
After talking with leaders of other municipalities on their recent contract bidding and pricing, I opted to invoke a one-year extension on our two contracts using the Consumer Price Index for 2023. My decision saved borough residents from having to pay up to a 180% increase in refuse costs on their 2023 tax bill.
For example, the price for the four services in 2022 was $240 per unit. If we had put the contract up for bid, the 2023 price could have been as high as $720 per unit based on other municipality contracts. The actual cost will be just $290 per unit.
This equates to about 80 cents per day, $25 per month or $73 per quarter. In comparison, residents in a neighboring municipality pay on average $75 per quarter for trash collection alone.
While few want to pay more for the same services, it is my hope our property owners appreciate the savings in 2023.
Joseph Cunliffe
Chair, Solid Waste, Mount Penn Borough Council
Source: Berkshire mont
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