Fairfax County leaders are squeezing out private garbage collection companies, ignoring potential savings to county taxpayers, according to waste industry officials.
At the behest of Fairfax supervisors, County Executive Anthony Griffin explored switching county trash routes to the private sector but ultimately advised officials not to pursue competitive bidding. He said the change would not produce long-term savings and would eliminate public-sector workers who would be needed for cleanup in the event of a natural disaster.
But Bruce Parker, president of the National Solid Wastes Management Association, called the decision evidence of an “antipathy towards the general business community” although the county faces a $257 million budget shortfall.
“If [lower costs are] true why not prove it through competitive bidding, instead of merely asserting it?” Parker wrote in a letter to Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova. “The recommendation against even the possibility of privatization of county services preserves a high-cost structure that avoids any sense of accountability.”
Business and conservative leaders have urged the county to consider privatizing more services to help offset hemorrhaging real estate revenue.
Fairfax is responsible for trash pickup at parks, libraries and other public facilities, in addition to nearly 45,000 homes in residential areas that opt for the service. The county trash routes account for about $1.6 million a year.
Supervisor Pat Herrity contends going private would save the county more than $500,000 a year, pointing to Fairfax County Public Schools, which contracts out trash service.
“Here is a place where we’ve saved money in the past and it’s obvious we can save money today,” he said. “County staff is refusing to look at it. I think it’s wrong.”
However, Griffin noted trash costs rose 31 percent in recent years at the schools compared with 22 percent for the county-operated program.
And Bulova said the attack was unwarranted because the overwhelming majority of county residents rely on private waste companies.
Loudoun County and Alexandria are responsible for trash pickup at most public facilities, whereas Montgomery, Arlington and Prince William counties use private contractors.
