SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — South Whitehall Township residents will not have to pay more in township taxes next year, but the township waste collection fee soon will increase.
The township Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to adopt the 2024 budget. It includes no real estate tax increase nor an increase of water and sewer fees.
But waste collection fees will increase starting in April. The board in September approved a five-year waste collection contract that will increase fees to residents a little more than 62%, to $660 per residential unit per year.
The township's approved contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons was the cheapest of three options.
"Here we have three bids, and each one stunk. No pun intended. They were awful.”Commissioner Monica Hodges
“It was sickening when I saw the increase,” Commissioner Monica Hodges said Wednesday. “I felt like, goodness, what do we do? Because here we have three bids, and each one stunk. No pun intended. They were awful.”
Other municipalities in the region, including Easton and Allentown, have faced increases in waste collection fees, as well.
Township commissioners approved a $30-per-quarter discount for seniors with an income of equal to or less than $35,999 for the fee.
In the 2024 budget, expenditures and revenues are projected to be equal in the general fund. Both would be about $19.79 million, an 11% increase from 2023.
2024 South Whitehall Township Final Budget by Olivia Marble on Scribd
Trying to keep costs down
The township is looking into how to keep waste collection prices down.
Township Manager Tom Petrucci said the township will conduct a study into the entire trash collection system to figure out how to keep prices down after the five-year contract ends.
Resident Denise Flick addressed the board during public comment, asking whether there was any way residents could opt out of the township waste collection service and get their own in the meantime.
“I'm a one-person household," Flick said. "I put out garbage once a month. I'm gonna pay $700 to put up garbage once a month? That's insane."
Petrucci said residents now are required to pay for the township collection service, but that is one of the things that will be looked at during the study.
"In three or five years, they're probably going to have to do it again. Because the costs of trash are not going down."Commissioner Jacob Roth
Commissioner Jacob Roth said he anticipates the price increases will continue for all municipalities — which is why he thinks the study is important.
“Most of those municipalities, they're going to go through this process, you're going to have the new contract with a massive increase that puts a burden on residents,” Roth said.
“And then in three or five years, they're probably going to have to do it again. Because the costs of trash are not going down."
Flick asked whether residents could be notified about the fee increase before it goes into effect. Petrucci said the township will send out mailers in the coming weeks.
