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Southborough Select Board adopts new transfer station sticker fees, keeps income-based waiver
Summary
At a June 17 public hearing the Select Board approved revised transfer station rules and a sticker-fee schedule (Option 2) that raises most permits modestly while preserving an income-based waiver program.
The Southborough Select Board on June 17 adopted revised transfer station rules and a new sticker-fee schedule for fiscal year 2026, approving the board'recommended fee package identified as Option 2 after a public hearing at the Town House hearing room.
The vote implements a modest increase in user fees for the transfer station while keeping an existing program that waives sticker costs for income-qualified residents. Board members said the changes are meant to reduce pressure on the general fund while keeping the transfer station accessible.
Bill Cundiff, the town public works presenter, said the changes to the written regulations are primarily a reformatting and do not "have no substantive changes to them," but the updated packet includes three fee options for the board to consider. The Select Board had directed staff to aim for a roughly $100,000 operating deficit for the transfer-station fund, meaning part of costs are borne by general taxes and part by sticker revenue.
The board reviewed three fee packages. Under the adopted Option 2, the first annual non-senior permit rises from $285 to $295 and additional non-senior permits are $25 each; senior first permits rise to $50 with additional senior permits set at $15. Cundiff presented the town'financial analysis showing the three options' projected operating deficits and recommended the option closest to the board'set target. "We presented 3 options... Option 2... is slightly more approachable for the senior side," Select Board member Tim said during the hearing.
Board members discussed trade-offs between the options and senior discounts. Select Board member Kathy said she appreciated the clearer layout of the rules and the indexed packet, and voiced concern about jumping the senior second sticker from $10 to $25 in one option; she said she could live with Options 1 or 2. Marguerite supported Option 1 initially but the board coalesced around Option 2 for its smaller increase in second senior permits. A member of the public urged the board to consider hardship and recommended focusing enforcement on nonresidents using the transfer station.
Andrew (Select Board member) moved the motion to adopt the transfer-station rules and to adopt Option 2 for FY26 sticker fees; the motion was seconded and the board approved the changes. Cundiff reminded the board and the public that the town maintains an income-qualified program allowing eligible residents to receive stickers at no cost: "you can actually get the sticker for no cost if you qualify."
Implementation notes from the hearing: staff will update the published regulations (Attachment B) to reflect the fee schedule adopted by Option 2, and the new fees apply to FY26 sticker sales as part of the updated Transfer Station Rules and Regulations. The board also previewed DPW's wider work program at the July 1 meeting, when Cundiff will present a DPW year-ahead overview and priorities.
The public hearing record and the updated rules and fee schedule will be posted to the town website per the board's standard procedure.
