BROOMFIELD: The Broomfield City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a controversial universal trash hauling ordinance on first reading, despite concerns from some residents that the measure is an unnecessary expansion of local government, and that the city has more pressing issues at hand.
While trash hauling has been handled by the private market until now, the ordinance changes it to a government-managed contract with singular haulers assigned to different areas of the city. The program runs on “volume based pricing,” with the cost of recycling added into the expense. Citizens pay for the size of their trash receptacles , which the city council claims should “incentivize [citizens] to recycle as much as possible to opt for the smallest trash cart.”
The ordinance does not include apartments with eight or more units or those who are part of an homeowners association (HOA). Broomfield citizens can opt-out of the ordinance, but only after paying a fee, the price of which is currently not decided.
Broomfield says that their goal in establishing this ordinance is to get the 22% waste diversion up to 50% by the year 2025 and 100% by 2035.
Rick Fernandez, one of the founding members of a local watchdog group, Broomfield Taxpayer Matters, says that the group opposes the ordinance and wants the Broomfield government to instead focus on issues that matter more to the citizens, such as as a looming 50% water rate increase.
Fernandez says that this universal trash haul is only the beginning of an effort to grow the size and influence of local government,
“It’s just one step, I’m sure, in a series of things they are going to try to do,” Fernandez said.
The “opt-out” fee in particular appears to have grabbed the ire of the group, which describes the trash hauling ordinance in their newsletter as a “pet project that will grow the size of government, and require that you pay them regardless of if you use their boondoggle trash service or not.”
Fernandez says that Broomfield has acquired a lot of debt from runaway spending, and the way they are going to pay for it is by increasing the water rate and having citizens pay more on things like universal trash hauling.
“Their tactic is to blame past city councils and act like this [debt] is a surprise,” Fernadez said, “you have the problem in front of you, why are you adding another government program.”
This is not Broomfield’s first bite at city-run trash hauling. A similar attempt fizzled out last year in the face of citizen-led opposition. “No monopoly is better than the free market,” wrote Broomfield resident Thomas Bruno in a 2023 Complete Colorado guest-opinion piece. “I can fire my trash hauler anytime and they know it. With a government chosen monopoly, we have to accept whatever passes for service.”
The ordinance is scheduled for a second reading, along with public comment, at the Sept. 10 council meeting.
