In-House Services, A Financial and Operational Overview for Municipalities

West Whiteland Township's Exploration of
In-House Waste Services

West Whiteland Township, a smaller municipality located approximately 30 miles outside of Philadelphia, faced significant challenges in managing their trash and recycling program. With a population of nearly 20,000 residents, the township's trash and recycling costs had quadrupled, and they were nearing the end of a five-year contract with their current hauler.

The cost of renewing the contract was projected to increase by 30% to 70%. Additionally, the township's pay-as-you-throw program, which had been in place since the 1990s, was becoming less viable as haulers preferred the more expensive tote system over the traditional bag system. This situation led West Whiteland to explore the possibility of bringing the trash and recycling services in-house to maintain service quality and control costs.

Financial Overview of West Whiteland's Trash and Recycling Program

The financial modeling conducted using Synario was based on township information and audited financial data. From there West Whiteland was able to get detailed insights into their trash and recycling program. Speakers Partridge and Gural-Bear outlined some of West Whiteland's Finances at the summit.

• Annual Budget: $16 million for the General Fund.
• Trash and Recycling Costs: Projected to increase by up to 70% with new outsourcing contracts.
• Pay-As-You-Throw Program: Residents paid $89 as a base fee and purchased trash bags, with an average usage of 219 bags per year.
• Capital Improvement Program: West Whiteland Township has a robust capital improvement and infrastructure program that impacts municipal reserves.

Challenges of Outsourced Services

• Rising Costs: The cost of outsourcing trash and recycling services had increased significantly, with bids for new contracts coming in 70% higher than the current rates.
• Service Quality: The township experienced poor customer service from their current hauler, including missed pickups.
• System Viability: The traditional bag system was becoming less favored by haulers, who preferred the tote system, which would increase the cost for most residents.
• Residential Opinion: In a survey of township residents, public opinion of the pay-as-you-throw program was becoming less favorable.

Modeling the Transition to In-House Municipal Waste Services

To address their challenges, the Township turned to the Synario platform for financial modeling and analysis. Synario and their service team helped West Whiteland build a detailed financial model that included current costs, projected costs for the next 10 years, and the financial implications of bringing the service in-house versus continuing to outsource.

Synario allowed West Whiteland's team to compare different scenarios, such as the costs and benefits of in-house services versus outsourcing, helping them gain a clearer picture of both the cost of bringing the solid waste services in-house as well as the long-term financial future when doing so.

Synario enabled the municipality to make real-time adjustments to their financial model, incorporating new data and assumptions quickly and accurately.

Ultimately, the analysis revealed a few notable considerations.

• A loan would be necessary to begin the services
• The biggest associated costs would be for staffing and benefits
• While more expensive initially, the cost of the in-house services would flatten out as time progressed.

These analyses were made available to all residents, and were shown at community town hall meetings, to ensure transparency and to communicate the town's strategic planning efforts.

Synario has supported West Whiteland Township's initiative modeling by providing a robust tool that not only helped them get a clearer picture on what it would take to bring the solid waste services in-house, but to also understand how sustainable the  project would be in the long-term.