Marion Town Hall

Marion residents will see new trash cans delivered to their homes as the Town of Marion switches garbage providers.

Waste Pro is set to begin garbage service to Marion Tuesday, March 1, with the first pickup being Wednesday, March 2.

Marion aldermen voted in January to accept a bid from Waste Pro to provide garbage pickup to town residents. The town had previously contracted with Waste Management for the service.

In a Facebook video, Mayor Larry Gill explained the reasoning behind the change.

“Our garbage contract with Waste Management ends Feb. 28, which is next Monday,” he said in the video Tuesday afternoon. “So we bidded it out this past fall, and we got the bids back, and we did decide to go with Waste Pro.”

Gill previously said the garbage contract with Waste Management had been extended several times beyond its original length. Putting out for bids for garbage service, he said, was in part an effort to comply with state purchasing laws.

“State law requires us to bid out contracts over $50,000,” he said Tuesday.

The other motivation behind switching providers was cost savings. Under the Waste Management contract, the Town of Marion paid $16.70 per can per month for garbage service. Residents were billed $8.35 per month, with the town covering the remaining cost.

Under state law, Gill said, the town cannot continue to subsidize garbage costs.

“We must charge the users what we are being charged to provide the service,” he said.

Of the three bids the town received, Waste Pro’s was the lowest at $13.29. In the future, Gill said, the board will need to take action to pass the full cost of the garbage service onto residents.

While no resident wants to pay more, Gill said the board did what it could to keep the costs as low as possible. With the Waste Pro contract, the full cost of the service will be about $4 more for residents as opposed to other bids, which would have raised rates about $8.

Marion residents are urged to keep an eye out for their new garbage cans, which Waste Pro began delivering Tuesday. At some point, Gill said, Waste Management will collect the old cans, but no date has been announced.

The biggest change, Gill said, is that garbage pickup will move from Tuesday to Wednesday. Residents will need to have their garbage on the curb by 7 a.m. Wednesday to make sure it is picked up.