With Swissvale, Wilkins and Braddock Hills facing new garbage collection contracts with steep increases, the communities thought they could get better prices by soliciting bids as a group.

They were right.

Swissvale council President David Petrarca said the process allowed his borough to receive low enough bids that it would not have to double the cost of residential garbage fees, as previously anticipated.

He would not reveal how much of an increase would be charged above the current $98 fee because, he said, the borough may pursue additional bids. But he promised it would not be as high as projected.

"From what we see, there will be increases, but it's not going to be double," Mr. Petrarca said. "Of course, we're going to try to keep it to a minimum."

Wilkins Manager Rebecca Bradley said the combined bids gave her township "the best price we could possibly receive, given current market conditions."

She recommended that township commissioners accept a five-year combination incentive bid from Waste Management to collect refuse and recycled items that would cost $393,000 to $405,000 for 2009. Ms. Bradley originally budgeted $425,000 for the fees for 2009.

Wilkins and Churchill have a joint contract for recycling.

"This exercise with Swissvale, Braddock Hills and Churchill proved to be extremely fruitful on a number of fronts," wrote Ms. Bradley in a memo to the township's board of commissioners.

"First, it allowed the township to work closely with neighboring communities. Second, it provided an opportunity for the township to share the cost of advertising among four communities, instead of each community shouldering that cost alone, and, finally and also most importantly, it produced competition in the market.

"Waste Management and BIGS [Trucking Inc.] may have been the only two companies that ultimately submitted bids, but four companies -- including Allied Waste requested bid packets and attended the pre-bid meeting. This increased competition, in my opinion, made the companies honest and held the prices to the lowest possible levels."

Representatives from Braddock Hills declined to comment on the bid process, saying they would present bids to council at a meeting today.

Swissvale officials also are reporting success on another issue related to garbage -- the collection of past-due fees.

Mr. Petrarca said since the borough announced in April that it would aggressively pursue individuals owing garbage fees, 300 citations have been issued from Magisterial District Judge Ross Cioppa's court, six hearing dates have been set and more than $5,600 has been collected through full payments and installment agreements.

The borough also has established that 70 percent of the citations went to residents who could be easily notified, while the other 30 percent belong to people who have died or are for properties where deeds have changed hands or the site has been abandoned.

Mr. Petrarca applauded the efforts of code enforcement and Judge Cioppa's staff and said the collections were long overdue for negligent residents.

"I [feel and council feels] obligated to people who have paid this for all these years," he said. "That's why we're going after people who haven't."