Suffolk council approves bulk-refuse fee, adopts budget

SUFFOLK

Residents will have to pay the city for bulk refuse pickup beginning July 1.

The City Council approved the fees Wednesday while adopting its budget for the next fiscal year.

Council members voted 8-0 to approve City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn's $452.7 million spending plan. It includes no layoffs or furloughs for city workers and no increase in the real estate tax rate. A hiring freeze will continue, and no employees will get a raise.

"This is a year that we'll just have to get through and maintain where we are," Budget Officer Anne Seward said.

Cuffee-Glenn closed a $9.3 million funding shortfall mostly by cutting expenses, including the city's contribution to schools, employee benefits and office supplies.

The budget includes a 4 percent decrease in the general fund, which controls where money goes for most services.

Water and sewer rates will rise a combined 28 percent. Those rates contribute solely to the city's utility fund. Public Utilities Director Al Moor has said the higher rates are necessary to compensate for falling dollars from the fund's other main revenue source: the connection fees that come with new construction.

The new charges for bulk refuse pickup will range from $20 to $50, depending on the size of the pile. It amounted to the biggest new fee in Cuffee-Glenn's budget and drew the most attention from council members.

Councilman Leroy Bennett asked if the city could still provide one free pickup day a month for each borough. If not, he expected some people to just dump the trash that they can't fit into their garbage bins. "I hope I'm wrong, but I think we're going to see a lot of stuff in areas they shouldn't be," Bennett said.

The city received 92,000 requests for pickups last year, said Eric Nielsen, director of public works. Many people will decide to legally transport their own bulk piles to the landfill because of the new fee, he said.

Nielsen said a free monthly pickup wouldn't work under the proposed budget, because it's counting on the projected revenue.

Councilman Jeff Gardy said the fee gave him "heartburn."

"I'm willing to give it a chance for one year to see how it works," he said.

Vice Mayor Curtis Milteer Sr. wanted residents to know the free service ends on June 30.

"If you've got any trash worth large pickup, put it out," he said.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com