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Falls Church council weighs four ways to pay for curbside service; composting pilot emerges as near‑term favorite
Summary
Staff presented four options to fund curbside solid‑waste service — keep in taxes, a separate fee, variable cart pricing, or expanded multifamily service — and council signaled support for piloting a citywide organic third‑cart composting program while asking staff to refine equity and cost data.
City staff presented four options for financing curbside solid‑waste services at the Oct. 7 work session and council members broadly favored moving forward on a pilot composting program.
Lonnie Marchetti, the city’s solid‑waste coordinator, told council the city currently provides weekly curbside trash, yard‑waste and recycling services to about 3,053 curbside residences; roughly 2,600 households use 65‑gallon carts, 319 use 35‑gallon carts and 117 do not have a cart (mostly townhomes). Replacement of carts is provided at no charge; that replacement runs roughly $7,000–$10,000 per year.
Staff presented estimated cost components for curbside service (collection contract, tipping fees, compost subsidy, leaf collection) and said a preliminary per‑customer average for the curbside program is about $370. Staff corrected a chart during the presentation to show curbside collection contract costs at approximately $550,000 and tipping fees at about $230,000.
The staff outlined four options: (1) remove curbside service from the tax base and charge a separate per‑household fee (a preliminary illustrative fee of about $370 was shown); (2) a variable rate or pay‑as‑you‑throw model tied to cart size; (3) add a third cart for organic waste (yard and food waste) collected curbside; and (4) provide city services to select multifamily/condo buildings. Marchetti said options can be blended and that many details—cart sizes, outreach, legal and IT work—require further study.
On Option 3, staff provided preliminary cost estimates: an initial purchase of 65‑gallon organic carts would cost roughly $155,000 and recurring operating costs were shown in staff materials (staff estimated an illustrative per‑household operating change as part of the FY26 budget process). Marchetti said American Disposal (the city’s current hauler) could pick up the third bin and that tipping fees for composting were modeled in the presentation.
Council members were split on removing solid‑waste from the tax base (Option 1) and warned a flat fee could be regressive for lower‑assessed households. Several members expressed interest in pay‑as‑you‑throw principles but noted the administrative complexity and potential need for additional staffing. Several council members expressed broadly positive reactions to Option 3 as a near‑term step to reduce waste and meet environmental goals.
Staff noted an RFP or consultant engagement to study all options could cost about $200,000; several council members said they would prefer to implement a standalone composting pilot without spending that amount on a consultant, and staff agreed to return refined numbers as part of the FY26 budget process. Council directed staff to gather more targeted data—particularly on the three condo buildings that could be affected—and to come back with narrower cost estimates and implementation options.
