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WILKES-BARRE — Contract talks continue with the union representing city workers who pick up trash, while the sole bid from a private hauler for the service is still under review.

The talks and the review run on parallel tracks with no connection other than the collection of municipal waste and recyclables, according to city Administrator Ted Wampole.

Nor is there a deadline. “We’re not hooked to a schedule,” Wampole said Tuesday.

The city opened a bid Dec. 28 from Waste Management of Taylor and continues to go over the details, according to Wampole.

The company submitted a three-year bid of $15.9 million to do the work done by Department of Public Works’ employees. The city acted on the recommendation of its financial adviser, The PFM Consulting Group LLC of Philadelphia, to explore privatizing the service as a cost-saving measure.

The city budgeted $4 million in expenses this year for waste collection and only $2.3 million in revenue. The sale of trash bags accounted for $1.6 million of the revenue. That’s $430,000 more than the previous year due to a hike in the cost of the bags.

PFM listed waste collection among high-level options presented in a March 2017 progress report on the state of the city’s finances. PFM said the 2017 budget covered wages and benefits for 41 employees, some who did work besides waste collection. The report said the expense total did not include workers’ compensation claims and it also might have an inadequate allocation for vehicle replacement costs.

“It is too soon to know whether addressing the apparent deficit for this specific program would really save $2 million, but the size alone makes it a high priority for closer review,” PFM said.

Even if the city decided to privatize, the DPW workforce would not be reduced due to contractual obligations, said Wampole.

Negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 401 also are ongoing and another meeting is scheduled in March, he said.

The union received a 3 percent raise last year when it agreed to a one-year extension of the contract that expired at the end of 2016. There was no pay increase included in this year’s budget, however. The union has been working under the terms of the expired deal.

Wampole
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By Jerry Lynott

[email protected]

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.