AJC: DeKalb Considering Cutting Back on Trash Pickup
Decatur Metro | October 20, 2011As budgets have gotten tighter and tighter over the past few months/years, DeKalb County residents have repeatedly recommended that the county cut back trash pickup to once a week. Currently trash is picked up twice a week.
Well, the AJC reports this morning that the DeKalb County Commission is finally considering cutting back on trash pickup. According to the news org…
Going to once weekly pickup would allow the fee, which last went up in 2006, to stay the same through 2015, said Ted Rhinehart, the county’s deputy chief operating officer for infrastructure.
It also would gradually let the county eliminate 100 full-time jobs, mostly through attrition, and at least 25 collection trucks. Surplus vehicles and gear would be sold.
And more workers would be free to clean up roadways of litter and debris, as well as handle the mowing and landscaping on county land along those roads.
Those opposed to the change quoted in the article cite the smell of garbage and the potential for messy sidewalks as major concerns. As a Decatur resident with just once-a-week pickup, I can’t say I’ve noticed either of those things being a major problem.