Fairfax County leaders are tapping the brakes on a plan to potentially oversee trash collection in single-family neighborhoods countywide.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay announced yesterday (Tuesday) that a planned June 24 public hearing on the proposal to establish unified sanitation districts will be delayed until Oct. 14.
The nearly four-month delay will allow county staff to do more public outreach and education, McKay said.
The board voted 9-1 on April 22 to start public engagement on the proposed new waste collection system, which would authorize the county government to manage trash collection for all single-family neighborhoods.
Today, about 90% of neighborhoods are served by private contractors, with the remainder getting service from the county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.
State law gives localities the ability to establish unified trash collection districts. Arlington and Falls Church each have them, with the local governments collecting trash and recyclables from single-family neighborhoods through private contractors.
Under state law, localities must give affected companies at least five years’ notice before such a transition could begin, so if it’s approved, the county-managed system can’t be fully implemented until 2030.
In his June 10 remarks announcing the deferral, McKay said staff will be tasked with addressing what he termed misinformation circulating about the proposal.
During the April vote to authorize a public hearing, neither County Executive Bryan Hill nor the nine supervisors who voted yea say they have come to any conclusions about moving forward with such a major change.
“This is not a trigger,” McKay said then. “It is not like this is going to happen any time soon.”
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the lone vote against holding a public hearing, suggested in April that the proposal is a solution in search of a problem.
Small trash haulers have expressed concern about their ability to compete in the proposed new system, and the Fairfax Workers Coalition, a union representing some local government workers, has worried that the change will pave the way for the county to eliminate its own trash collection services, putting those workers out of their jobs.
County staff say unified sanitation districts will be more cost-effective by enabling the county to negotiate prices with private haulers as a single, large customer, rather than allowing varied rates from property owner to property owner. It also likely would give the county more control as it works to reduce waste countywide.
Currently, Fairfax County neighborhoods can petition to receive trash collection services from DPWES. While available countywide, use of the service tends to be concentrated in the easternmost parts of the county.
The remaining 90% of households have their choice of 21 haulers that are certified to operate in Fairfax. Sometimes individual homeowners decide which operator to use; other times, their homeowners’ association selects the service provider.
