City to Collect Condo Trash

The Port Washington Common Council talked trash Tuesday, literally.

Condominium associations in the city currently are responsible for their garbage collection service, but some owners in the Hidden Hills condos recently asked the city to take over that responsibility.

The condo owners say they pay double for garbage collection, as they pay condo association fees for the service and pay city taxes, which include the city's cost of municipal garbage collection.

The city initially refused to collect condo refuse due to the potential liability if private streets within condo developments are damaged in the process, Ald. Tom Hudon explained.

The council agreed Tuesday to take on the job, as long as condo associations  agree not to hold the city liable for any related damage to private streets. The associations that want city garbage pickup still need to sign the agreement.

The cost to collect garbage for an additional 33 to 50 units will add $5,203 to $7,884 to the city's annual budget.

“There’s plenty of funds for that” in the city's contingency budget and reserves, Hudson said.

Ald. Jim Vollmar agreed with the move to add the condo garbage pickups, but said the city's garbage collection fees are an issue that should be revisited when crafting the next city budget.

Port Washington residents currently pay for garbage collection services through property taxes, but Vollmar said he'd rather see it separated into its own sort of utility bill.

“I’m in favor of this, but I’d be in favor of taking a look” at collecting fees for collecting garbage, Vollmar said,  so that people not using the service, for example, are not paying for it in their taxes.

Hudson agreed, noting that similar ideas had been discussed in the past and could be something to look into in the future.