Why We’re Voting No on City-Wide Trash Collection
Opinion from The Local Communities. The facts below come from the City of Lee’s Summit’s own ballot FAQ, linked at the bottom.
On November 3, Lee’s Summit voters will be asked: “Should the municipality of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, provide for residential city-wide solid waste collection services?”
It sounds like a simple question about trash. It isn’t. A yes vote would replace the choice every homeowner has today with one company picked by the city, for up to 11 years, with no way out. We think Lee’s Summit should vote no.
What the measure would actually do
- Who it covers: single-family homes and buildings up to four units. Apartments and businesses are not included. HOAs that already contract for trash can keep their contract.
- One hauler: the city licenses about 10 residential haulers today. If the measure passes, one contractor chosen through the city’s bid process and approved by council would serve every covered home. Residents do not vote on which company.
- No opt-out: the city’s FAQ asks what happens if you refuse the service. Its answer: “there will not be another service provider option.”
- Price: basic service capped at $30 a month, fixed until 2028, then rising each year by inflation or 4%, whichever is lower.
- Length: a 5-year contract with up to three 2-year renewals, so up to 11 years.
- Billing: the hauler bills you directly. The city says there is no new tax or fee.
- What’s included: weekly trash, recycling, and yard waste (up to 10 bags or bundles), quarterly bulky-item pickup, a post-Christmas amnesty week, Christmas tree pickup, a senior discount, and free “snowbird” suspension.
- Timing: service would start sometime between July 2027 and June 2028.
Why we’re voting no
1. You lose your choice. Today, if your hauler misses pickups, raises prices, or treats you poorly, you call a competitor and switch. Under this measure that option disappears. Your recourse becomes calling the contractor, then calling City Hall, and waiting for the city to enforce its contract.
2. It shuts out local haulers. Around 10 companies serve Lee’s Summit homes today. Only one can win the contract. Every hauler that doesn’t win loses its Lee’s Summit residential customers in one stroke, and for a small, family-run local company, that can be most of its business. Those are local jobs, local trucks, and local owners who have served this town for years.
3. A $30 cap is a ceiling, not a deal. The city negotiated a maximum, and it can go up every year after 2028. Check what you pay today. Whatever the number, the measure takes away your ability to shop for a better one for as long as 11 years.
4. Fixing a bad contract gets harder. The city points to performance fines, bonding, and the power to terminate a contractor that breaches the contract. Those tools are real, but they move slowly and run through City Hall. Competition fixes bad service faster than a contract dispute does.
5. We’ve been here before. The city pursued city-wide trash collection in 2011, and it did not happen. The reasons residents had then still apply now.
What supporters say
To be fair to the other side: supporters say one hauler means fewer garbage trucks on neighborhood streets and less wear on roads, a single schedule for the whole city, and a guaranteed package that includes recycling, yard waste, and bulky-item pickup for every covered home. The city notes that more than half the cities it surveyed in the eight-county Kansas City area provide or contract for trash service, and the city says it will not make money on the service. If those trade-offs matter more to you than choice, a yes vote is how you’d get them.
Our bottom line
Lee’s Summit has a working market with about 10 local options. This measure trades that for one company you can’t leave. Keep the choice, and keep the local haulers in business. Vote no on November 3.
How to vote
- The registration deadline for November 3 was October 7.
- In-person absentee voting, no excuse needed, starts October 20, including at the Jackson County Election Board’s Lee’s Summit office, 500 NE Woods Chapel Road. Both of its offices are also open Saturdays, October 24 and 31, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. See your sample ballot at the Jackson County Election Board. Lee’s Summit residents in Cass County vote through the Cass County clerk.