Dear Editor:

I have been chair of the Wiscasset Budget Committee for the last two years. I read the Wiscasset Newspaper article “Budgets move closer to town vote” with concern.

Faced with rising costs, Budget Committee members frequently ask the town look at alternative ways of operating. The article referenced one example, the Transfer Station. Members said the Select Board should look at whether outsourcing and going to curbside pickup would save money. The article quoted comments and numbers mentioned in the Select Board meeting saying it would not save money and that curbside pickup would not take everything so we would have couches and refrigerators in the roads.

I would like to clarify the numbers mentioned in that article. It was stated that Woolwich, a town with a similar house count, spends $700,000 per year for curbside pickup. In reality, last year Woolwich spent $245,888. This included $135,849 for trucking and $111,035 for tipping (dump) fees. Woolwich does not have couches in its roads because residents can call for large item pickup or take these to West Bath and pay a fee. Also, like us, Woolwich gets revenue from recycling.

Numbers were also mentioned about the Wiscasset budget. The net cost to Wiscasset taxpayers will be $481,174. This is up 15% from the prior year, when we paid 70% more than Woolwich did.

To be clear, I am not saying that we absolutely must change to a different model for trash. But we must look at our options, and use real numbers. Our municipal budget will be 8.7% higher than last year. All of the increase is in six departments. Changing any of these would be hard. But we need to start making some hard decisions.

Tom Joyce

Wiscasset