The Greenbelt City Council held a worksession on March 3 to discuss two topics. First was the question of modifying the city’s solid waste rates. Second was a consideration of the future of the city’s pilot program for food scrap composting. Action will be taken after further consideration.
City Environmental Coordinator Kevin Carpenter-Driscoll and Sustainability Specialist Luisa Robles, Ph.D. (whose doctorate is in environmental sciences and economics), gave presentations on both issues. They were joined by Dan Israel, the senior vice president for sales and marketing of Compost Crew, a locally-owned business that has been offering curbside compost services in Greenbelt since 2022.
Cost Considerations
Carpenter-Driscoll started the worksession with an overview of the solid waste program’s finances. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the program operated at an almost $270,000 deficit, which was filled by the city’s General Fund. If rates remain unchanged, Carpenter-Driscoll explained, the deficit in FY 2026 will rise to almost $280,000 due to increases in Prince George’s County tipping fees from $70 to $85 per ton beginning on July 1, 2024 (another increase to $90 per ton is slated for July 2026). The program has been operating at an increasingly large deficit since 2019.
Likely Rate Increase
The proposed solution to this situation is to increase the solid waste rates, which have not changed since 2016. Currently, single-family homes pay $280 per year, as do some businesses; other businesses that generate more solid waste, primarily restaurants, pay $814 per year and churches pay $335 per year.
City staff proposed a 40 percent increase in rates that would eliminate the deficit. The increase would be phased in over two or three years, resulting in new yearly rates of $392 for single-family homes and some businesses, $1,140 for restaurants and $469 for churches.
Multiple Rate Scenarios
During discussion, council went into the details of the proposed increase, which offers three options: 1) two years with equal 20 percent increases, 2) two years with a frontloaded increase of 25 percent followed by a 15 percent increase and 3) three years with increases of 15, 15 and 10 percent, respectively.
City Manager Josué Salmerón summarized the discussion by noting that both two-year versions of the proposal seemed to have support. Councilmember Amy Knesel, echoing a point made in the staff presentation, noted that the City of Greenbelt’s solid waste program operates at prices below the average of neighboring jurisdictions while still delivering excellent service.
Curbside Composting
The second half of the worksession took up the issue of the city’s pilot program for curbside composting, operated by Compost Crew. The program’s current funding, provided by a USDA grant, expires in August. Robles set out the many environmental benefits of the composting project: composting diverts waste from landfills, minimizing generation of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The compost generated by the program, which is distributed locally, replaces nutrients in the city’s soil, which remains depleted from many generations of agriculture preceding the city’s birth. This amending improves soil health and allows the reduction of fertilizer use. Robles characterized the entire process as “closing the organics loop.”
Compost Options
City staff’s proposal set out several scenarios under which the city could continue and perhaps expand the program. Currently 440 households participate in the compost program, and an expansion of up to 660 participants was envisioned. As Israel noted from his perspective as a business owner, more composting participants allow for a slight reduction in per unit costs. One scenario for the continuation of the program is that the city would assume the costs of around $22 per month per bin. The cost would be offset in part by the diversion of approximately 200 tons of waste from the landfill, a savings of $17,000.
Alternative Strategies
Under another scenario, the program could be partially subsidized, following the model of Alexandria and Falls Church, where participants pay $5 and $8 per month, respectively. A final aspect of the proposal envisioned temporary use of a portion of the recently acquired Armory property for curing piles, which would free up space at the Trinity Church location that could increase the project’s overall capacity.
After further consideration, council will take budget action on staff proposals in a forthcoming council meeting.
