BoS authorizes a hearing on a Unified Sanitary District
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on April 22 authorized a hearing on a proposal to consider the formation of a Unified Sanitary District. The hearing will be June 24.
County Executive Bryan Hill recommended the county take over garbage and recycling collections through a regional system. The county would grant private companies exclusive rights to collect and manage waste collections in a specific geographic area. If approved, this system would displace many trash haulers that currently operate in the county.
If the BoS moves forward with the plan following the public hearing, Virginia law requires a five-year waiting period to give displaced private haulers time to adjust.
Staff from the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) say the five-year delay would also give the county time to engage with residents and collectors, develop specific plans, add new staff positions to support the expanded services, and implement the infrastructure for a seamless transition to a Unified Sanitary District.
Related story: Fairfax County plans to overhaul waste collections
“There is no formal plan at this point,” said Board Chair Jeffrey McKay. “The hearing is just the starting point for the planning process.”
A Unified Sanitary District would “provide the opportunity for our residents to get higher quality service at a lower price,” said Braddock Supervisor James Walkinshaw. The results of a survey show residents are “desperate to have that opportunity.”
“There’s a potential for residents to save 25 percent on average relative to what they’re paying now, although that’s not true across the board,” Walkinshaw said. “It would be very unwise not to consider the opportunity for residents to save a lot of money and get better service.”
There have been numerous complaints from residents who pay for private haulers about poor service, rising costs, and missed collections.
DPWES estimates the cost of preparing for a Unified Sanitary District during the five-year waiting period would be $22 million. Those funds would be needed for additional enforcement staff, expanding customer service and billing management, increasing outreach, and expanding contract management capacity to accommodate a 660 percent increase in customers served by the county.
To recover the start-up costs and expanded scope of a unified district, DPWES intends to propose “a countywide zero waste fee beginning in Fiscal Year 2027.”
According to DPWES staff, a unified system would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as there won’t be duplicate companies operating in the same neighborhood.
