JONESBORO — The city of Jonesboro is looking to privatize its sanitation service.
In a work session Monday, June 5, the City Council discussed the pros and cons of contracting the service out to a private company.
Jonesboro currently does trash pick-up three days a week with three employees per truck.
According to Public Works Director John Burdin, a third of public works staff could be freed up to do other jobs such as grounds and facilities maintenance.
He also said it contributes to low morale and each garbage truck requires a CDL driver.
“It’s been challenging to find one, much less two or three (CDL drivers),” Burdin said.
He said there was one case where a driver wasn’t available so someone from IT filled in.
“The fact that we had an IT person who was having to help out with a trash route is bad planning,” Burdin said.
Burdin also said garbage trucks are expensive to repair because of the specialized hydraulics.
The city spent $400,000 on a new truck in 2009 and other trucks will need to be repaired, he said.
Insurance is also higher for garbage trucks with the city paying annual premiums of $10,000. The city also pays $6,000 in workman’s compensation insurance as well.
He also said trash cans need to be replaced from time to time and $60,000 has been spent since 2011. The current trash cans can still be used even if the city decides to privatize its trash pick-up service.
Burdin added that the City has paid $700,000 in landfill costs from 2010 to 2022 and $30,000 so far this year.
If the city decides to privatize trash pick-up, proceeds from selling the garbage trucks can be used for other public works projects.
The city plans to keep one smaller garbage truck for leaf and limb pick-ups.
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