North Hanover Township Committee votes to increase the annual sticker fee from $25 to $50 for residents to use the township-owned waste facility.
By: William Wichert
NORTH HANOVER Taking the trash out is going to cost residents twice as much money next year.
In a 3-2 vote at its Dec. 23 meeting, the Republican majority of the Township Committee approved the final adoption of an ordinance that doubles the cost of the annual sticker fee from $25 to $50 that residents must pay to use the township-owned waste facility at Meany Road and Route 528, officials said.
The new sticker fees will take effect Jan. 4, when residents can start purchasing stickers at either the waste facility or the municipal building on Schoolhouse Road, officials said. These stickers allow residents to bring their trash to the facility every Tuesday and Saturday.
With this increase, the township will receive about $37,500 in sticker revenues from about 750 residents who use the facility and thereby help offset the township’s current 82 percent share of the facility’s $115,000 annual operating costs, officials have said. The township’s share will be reduced to $77,500.
The contested fee increase follows several months of political haggling on the Township Committee. Like in previous votes on this issue, Republicans Lou DeLorenzo, Bill Tilton and Mike Moscatiello approved the ordinance’s final adoption last week, and Democrats Nancy Morrow and Al Dempster rejected it.
"I believe the waste facility is a service we should provide for the residents," said Ms. Morrow on Tuesday. Ms. Morrow said her opposition came out of discussions she had during the recent political campaign with residents who said they opposed a fee increase.
"It’s really increasing their taxes without increasing their taxes," she said. "No matter what you call it, it’s coming out of the pockets of the taxpayers. It’s a difference of opinion in how things should be funded."
But Mr. Tilton said increasing the sticker fee for the few hundred people who use the facility is better than a general tax increase for the thousands of township residents.
"I would rather see it go this way than raising everybody’s taxes. Why should somebody pay for something they’re not using?" said Mr. Tilton in a phone interview on Tuesday. "If both sides have an issue with it, that’s a fair situation. No one’s 100 percent happy, but you have to give and take."
Before the latest increase, the $25 sticker fees bought by about 750 residents only generated about $18,750 each year, forcing the township to contribute about $94,000 to keep the facility running, Mayor DeLorenzo previously said.
The mayor has said that the fee increase would help cover the $22,000 annual payroll of the facility’s workers as well as make more funds available in the general municipal budget for other township services.

