May 9 Curbside Recycling Election '23
Unofficial results of the May 9 Special Election
For the proposition 45.28%
Against the proposition 54.72%
Proposition fails
Results will be certified by the Cleveland County Election Board no earlier than 5pm on May 12.
Frequently Asked Questions
The City has put residential curbside recycling before voters in the past. Why are we bringing it up again?
The item was on the ballot in 2016 and was defeated in a very close vote. Since then, the City has continued to grow in population. City Council and staff continue to get requests for curbside recycling and, considering our growth and continued demand for it, felt the topic should be revisited.
How much will the service cost each residential customer? How much does the City pay the service provider?
| City Pays Service Provider |
Residential Customer Rate |
Qualifying Senior Citizen Rate |
|
| 1st year | $4.30/mo./customer | $3.90/mo. | $1.95/mo. |
| 2nd year | $4.47/mo./customer | $3.98/mo. | $1.99/mo. |
| 3rd year | $4.65/mo./customer | $4.06/mo. | $2.03/mo. |
| 4th year | $4.84/mo./customer | $4.14/mo. | $2.07/mo. |
| 5th year | $5.03/mo./customer | $4.22/mo. | $2.11/mo. |
How will the City subsidize the difference between the customer cost and the cost to the City?
If curbside recycling is approved, it will allow the City to scale back the operations at our current recycling facility and the savings from that will go towards funding the difference.
How often will there be curbside recycling pickups?
Every other week on your same trash day. A recycling polycart will be provided with a differing color and specific signage to help distinguish.
Is the proposed program opt-in or mandatory?
It's a mandatory program in that every residential utility customer will be billed for the service. Senior Citizens who qualify may receive a utility rate reduction. Form can be found here.
What company will provide the residential curbside recycling if the proposition passes?
The City currently contracts with Republic Services for our commercial waste service so this would be an add-on service. List of Acceptable/Unacceptable Items
What happens after the 5-year contract is up?
City Council can, at the end of five years, make changes to the program or eliminate it.
If passed, when will the program start?
Within 4 to 6 months. Republic Services would order the polycarts and gear up staffing and equipment to be able to provide the service. The City would spend that time educating customers on the program details and the roll-out process.
Why aren’t multi-family customers included?
Multifamily customers are considered commercial customers. An apartment complex is a commercial account, with commercial dumpsters, that require different trucks to pick up their waste.
Under what circumstances would the monthly cost go beyond the proposed annual increase in years 2-5?
The service provider does reserve the right to increase the cost to the City for some extraordinary items, such as higher than expected fuel costs or an unacceptable amount of waste going into the recycling containers. Any rate increase above the expected 4% would be borne by the City. The resident rate will not increase by more than the 2%.
