Mayor Tish Colombi was on hand at the Camden County Environmental Center to explain a new shared service agreement between 35 governments in the county for trash disposal.
Haddonfield will save $34,232 in tonnage over a three-year time period.
“We truly work as a team,” she said of the borough’s relationship with the Board of Chosen Freeholders. “The important thing is that we’re working together to make a difference for our residents.”
The partnership helps everyone involved, explained Mayor Colombi.
The agreement, which provides for a $59 per ton rate, will begin next month and affect 224,000 homes in the county.
“Municipalities and counties working together to bring down costs is a benefit to all towns operating under a 2 percent cap,” Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities said in a statement. “Innovative thinking and shared services will allow mayors more flexibility with their finances and provide our executives with the ability to produce lower prices for the taxpayers.”
The municipalities within the agreement represent more than 187,000 tons of trash each year, said Freeholder Jeffrey Nash.
The bids that came in for the agreement, he added, were “extremely favorable.”
“It’s a remarkable savings,” he said.
The trash is incinerated in the city of Camden.
Municipalities no longer are held to a state imposed trash flow restriction and thus were able to go out to bid.
Mayor Chuck Cahn of Cherry Hill, Mayor Dave Mayer of Gloucester Township and Mayor John Ward of Audubon were also present to explain how the agreement will help the communities.
It is anticipated that Cherry Hill residents will save $190,000 over three years in tonnage rates, said Mayor Cahn, of the $1,311,900 in total that will be saved in municipalities throughout the county.
“We’re working hard to get our tonnage down,” he said, pointing out that the township was originally looking at a cost of $72 per ton.
In the next two years, Mayor Mayer said, Gloucester Township will be paying less for trash disposal than they did in the prior two years.
Shared services to Mayor Ward are a “no brainer.”
“It’s the future of local government,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
Winslow Township went out to bid separately, officials said, due to proceedings on their end.
In the future, Camden County municipalities who are not involved in the original agreement will be able to join.
According to a county release, the process of organizing the cooperative bid package began in February. The governments involved were placed into the bid to drive down the price with the ultimate goal being to provide relief to budgetary constraints.
“This partnership reflects the Freeholder Board’s commitment to cost cutting and fiscal responsibility,” said Nash in a statement. “By joining in this cooperative bid package, each participant will save a great deal in disposal fees.”
