McKeesport’s recent boomerang decision about garbage collection next year suggests city leaders were guilty of a rush to judgment when they decided to go into the trash collection business.

The mayor contends, though, the turnabout actually will be in a boon to taxpayers.

City council recently decided to stick with contracting for refuse collection for the next three years rather than adding it to the responsibilities of the city’s public works department.

Governments change policies all the time, often for the good reason that circumstances have changed.

But city officials, in this instance, didn’t make up their minds until after they already had put taxpayers on the hook for a substantial sum. More precisely, McKeesport agreed to pay about $1.2 million for six garbage trucks. Financing was over five years.

The brakes were applied after they crested the hill. Council decided to continue contracting service from an outside entity. The new contract with County Hauling will cost $79.75 per ton of garbage and recycling collected, down from this year’s $109 per ton contract with Big’s Sanitation.

Mayor Michael Cherepko said the taxpayers can’t lose. He estimates an annual savings of at least $350,000, perhaps up to $450,000 in each year of the three-year contract.

He said the city never anticipated getting such a good deal when council members decided to purchase the trucks. Other factors in the decision to reverse course from going into the garbage business? Changes in the market for recyclables and a loss of manpower in the city’s public works department.

“A lot of things you could recycle a year ago, you can’t now,” Mr. Cherepko said. And, “Our manpower is down. Adding employees would have added costs.”

Now, the city must unload the trucks they’ve bought. The mayor says it won’t be a problem. “We may even make more money on the deal,” he said.

“We’re at no risk of losing any money in my opinion,” the mayor said.

And if his “opinion” is wrong? The mayor points to the savings from the garbage contract, an amount he believes will exceed the costs of financing the trucks.

It all may work out fine for McKeesport, but it involves guesswork and some gambling. That’s not an ideal way to conduct municipal business.

First Published: November 23, 2019, 11:00 a.m.