Batavia passes new fee for leaf, brush services

Batavia's formerly "free" curbside brush and leaf pickup is no more.

The city council Monday decided to charge homeowners $3 a month to take away the waste.

Owners of multifamily housing of five units or fewer will also have to pay the fee.

It will raise $306,000 for the general operating fund in 2010. The fee increase was proposed as the city was planning its 2010 budget and figuring out how to reduce a projected deficit of more than $1 million. The general fund is supported largely by property and sales taxes.

The charge will show up on utility bills starting in January if the city can change its software in time for that billing cycle.

Alderman Jim Volk proposed a three-year limit on the fee. "I am concerned this fee will remain long after the economy has recovered," he said.

Volk also suggested that as GPS devices are being added to the city's trucks, it may be possible to calculate how much time the trucks spend at certain addresses and customize bills based on that data. His proposal died 10-4.

"I am not concerned the fee will remain, because it should," countered Alderman Linnea Miller, whose government services committee recommended the fee.

Volk and Alderman Eldon Frydendall then voted against the fee, with Frydendall saying he would prefer to see it as a property tax.

The city has also determined that nearly 50 unincorporated properties have been receiving the service; that will end. About a half dozen are in the Batavia Highlands neighborhood near Route 25 and Fabyan Parkway, and the rest are "islands" scattered throughout town.

"We do not see how we can continue to give away services," Miller said.

The council went on to approve the city's 2010 budget. The general operating funds budget was set at $23.55 million, with a deficit of $871,591. The city will spend out of its reserves to cover that deficit.

Volk thanked the city employees, including some who belong to unions, for agreeing to a wage freeze for 2010 to avoid further layoffs. Some have also had their pay cut.

"That's going to put a wrinkle into a lot of people's household budgets," Volk said.