How much does a trash can cost? Apparently, one can cost $1,000 or more in downtown Kansas City, Kan.
The expenditure not to exceed $30,000 for 20 trash receptacles is going through the process for Unified Government approval currently.
According to UG officials, it is the decision of an advisory board of the Downtown Improvement District, a self-supporting municipal improvement district (SSMID), in which businesses and property owners in that area choose to increase their taxes slightly and then decide how to use the funds.
Funds have already been budgeted for these expenditures, according to UG officials, and do not come from general tax funds.
Also proposed are 150 new banners for downtown KCK at a cost expected to be less than $10,000.
The expenditures are coming before the UG Commission in order to set a required public hearing. A public hearing may be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 28 at City Hall, 701 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kan.
While a 45-gallon plastic trash can could cost a resident about $30, more or less, at local stores, the receptacles discussed Monday night are not the typical plastic trash cans.
According to Lynn Kuluva of the Downtown Improvement District, these heavy-duty, outdoor steel receptacles are like the ones the UG already installed near 7th and Minnesota. The Downtown Shareholders will be the contracting entity for the project, according to a proposed ordinance.
Previously, the SSMID has used funds it has collected to hire people to clean up the downtown area and to ensure safety.
“I was stunned when I found out we had to have a public hearing for them to be able to allocate spending money that we’ve already allocated for them to collect,” said Commissioner Brian McKiernan at the Economic Development and Finance Committee meeting.
In answer to a question from Commissioner Gayle Townsend, Kuluva said the ATA bus service installed new trash receptacles at 7th and Minnesota, and recently the UG installed similar trash receptacles in the 700 block of Minnesota.
The SSMID got two bids to purchase 20 similar trash receptacles from a company with headquarters in downtown KCK, Kuluva said. The agenda listed MM Companies at 720 Minnesota Ave. as the bidder.
The UG committee unanimously approved setting a public hearing for the project.
The trash receptacle purchase price is not the only consideration. The on going cost of the program needs to be considered as well. Whose responsibility will it be to empty the containers and place a new trash liner in them. The ATA places receptacles at transit stops but do they empty them on a regular basis?