Henrico scraps proposal for annual $24 recycling fee

Henrico officials have pulled off the table a proposal that would have instituted an annual $24 recycling fee on all county households.

On Saturday, Henrico Public Utilities Director Bentley Chan told the Board of Supervisors during the second day of its two-day retreat at Richmond Raceway that it would make more sense to wait until the county enters into a new regional recycling agreement (with current partner Central Virginia Waste Management Authority) July 1, 2023.

Last month, officials had proposed instituting the fee – perhaps as soon as June – as a way to get the recycling program out of the red and streamline operations leading up to the new contract. Through its current contract with CVWMA, Henrico currently provides curbside recycling for free to most single-family homes in the county – about 85,000 in total – but is losing about $3.1 million annually on the effort. (The county makes only about $285,000 in revenue from recycling, largely from metal recycling, Chan said.)

That shortfall could increase to nearly $5 million in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, and more than $6.5 million annually by the time the new contract begins, based upon cost data provided by Henrico Finance Director Meghan Coates to supervisors last month. Implementing the fee, she said at the time, would generate about $3.4 million annually to help offset at least some of the cost in the coming years.

There was some public pushback to the fee concept, but neither Chan nor other county officials indicated Saturday that it factored into the apparent reversal of course. (All other localities that participate in the CVWMA contract charge their residents fees, Coates said.)

"We would like to time our efforts to those increases in costs, and we should get some information in the spring about what that looks like," Chan said.

CVWMA has put the new contract out publicly for bids, according to Executive Director Kim Hynes, and details about the new deal should be known this spring, Chan said. One thing that seems certain to those involved: it will cost more than the existing one.

That's due in part to the changing nature of recycling (recyclers paid about $20 per ton of materials as recently as four years ago but now charge about $30 to recycle the same amount, Coates said) and in part to changes in participation by CVWMA member localities in the new contract. While eight localities are opting to continue their curbside services for all eligible households, Chesterfield – the second-largest participant in the current contract, through which is serves 72,000 households – is planning to switch to a subscription service.

That means residents of that county will need to contract directly will CVWMA or another entity in order to receive the service, and it means the cost to the other participating localities likely will rise as a result.

"This is really a time of uncertainty," Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas told supervisors, concurring with Chan's assessment that taking a wait-and-see approach, rather than implementing a new fee now, was most prudent.

During Saturday's retreat, Chan also told supervisors that he is recommending:
• an increase from $15 to $18 a month for the county's trash collection service;
• re-implementation of the $3-per-trip fee at the county's two public use facilities, which had been waived shortly after the pandemic began;
• a revised pricing structure for the county's vacuum leaf program, with costs commensurate with the amount of leaves collected (rather than the current flat fee of $30);
• consideration of contracting with a private provider to handle bulky waste pickups;
• capping at a total of $610,000 and 16 events the annual community cleanup program that serves older neighborhoods in the county.

If approved by supervisors, each recommendation would take effect in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Henrico's Public Utilities department generates nearly $9 million annually through its trash collection service, which costs about $5 million. That revenue essentially pays for most of the other services the department offers, he said, since the others operate at a loss.

But $15 a month is less than any private company charges for trash collation, Chan said. Raising the fee to $18 a month would match the least-expensive charge levied by a private contractor locally, he said, while allowing the department to better supplement its other programs. Henrico last raised its trash collection fee in 2007, when it increased from $13 a month to its current level.

Board Chair and Brookland Supervisor Dan Schmitt urged Chan and his department to evaluate the pricing every two years moving forward.