The Woolwich Town Office has reconciled its Pay As You Throw accounts. After paying back what was owed for unsold bags and adding savings from tipping fees, the program broke even in the four months and three weeks it was in effect.

According to numbers released Feb. 17 by the town office, from Sept. 1 to the close of December, revenues realized from the sale of WasteZero trash bags totaled $35,230. The town paid WasteZero of Andover, Massachusetts $10,547 for three pallets of returned bags and owes another $520 for other bags remaining in inventory. Town Administrator Lynette Eastman said the town owes $946 to 64 residents who returned bags for a refund and $2,710 to the six retailers who sold bags.

Subtracting these amounts from bag receipts leaves the town office a balance of $20,506. Bag sales weren’t included for the final three weeks PAYT was in effect in January. The program ended Jan. 27; residents could return bags for a refund until Feb. 12.

During the four months residents were participating in PAYT, the town office estimated the town reduced its “tipping fees,” the money it pays for trash disposal, by $14,376.

Anderson said this amount was arrived at by comparing the town’s waste tonnage for the four months PAYT was in effect to the same four-month period in 2014. Pine Tree Waste Services, the town’s contacted waste hauler, compiled the tonnage figures. Based on the comparison there was a reduction of 159.99 tons. The dollar savings to the town was determined by multiplying the tonnage times the tipping fee of $89.86, resulting in the savings of $14,376.

Selectmen reduced the 2015-2016 solid waste budget $36,000 — the anticipated savings from joining PAYT. The savings were to come from a reduction in “tipping fees” and bag sales over the town’s fiscal year. Based on these figures the town essentially broke even for the time PAYT was in effect.

“We earned enough to at least cover the $36,000 we took from the solid waste budget,” commented David King Sr., selectmen’s chairman. Of the tonnage reduction, King said the amount the town recycled had increased during PAYT’s four months. Pine Tree Waste Services compiles recycling numbers for the town as well.

Tonnage figures questioned

Don Adams, who led the petition effort that resulted in voters ending the program, said PAYT didn’t save money, it simply shifted the cost to residents.

Adams, newly appointed to the town’s Solid Waste and Recycling Committee, doesn’t question what’s been reported in bag sales. He said the tonnage figures are wrong because they include private dumpsters. Pine Tree Waste Services emptied the dumpsters the same time it picked up the orange WasteZero bags, he said.

“By my last count there were 32 dumpsters in town. Some are for single families or businesses, others serve multiple families. The trash isn’t being separated out when these dumpsters are emptied and it needs to be,” he explained.

To get an accurate tonnage figure, Adams said the trash within private and commercial dumpsters should have been collected separately and weighed. “That didn’t happen because everything went into the same truck,” he added.

Sue Whittaker likened PAYT to a tax, or surcharge on trash disposal. “We were actually paying twice, once in our property taxes for the money raised for the solid waste budget at town meeting and again for what we had to pay for the trash bags,” she said.

Lots of bags left over

Still to be determined is what the town office will do with the thousands of orange plastic trash bags. Three pallets of bags containing cartons of large and small trash bags arrived three weeks ago. More are expected. For now they’re being stored in the town office basement.

Selectmen have considered selling the bags at their wholesale price to residents but have made no decision.