DeKalb County residents will have the opportunity to have a say in the future of garbage pickup.

The DeKalb County Sanitation Department is holding public meetings, “Let’s Talk Trash,” across the county to discuss the future of garbage pickup. Burke Brennan, the county’s chief communications officer, said the discussion is about whether to reduce garbage pickup from two days a week to one day a week.

“This is coming at the behest of a need to raise rates,” he said. “What we’re trying to attain is the opinion of our customers because we haven’t had a rate increase for sanitation in a long time.”

According to a presentation at Scottdale Senior Center on Jan. 10, potential solutions include keeping the trash pickup at two days and increasing the fee by $40 per year. The number of trucks picking up trash will remain the same and large item collection will remain the same.

The other solution is decreasing trash pickup to one day a week with the fee remaining the same. Large item collection would also stay the same, and fewer trucks would be on the road, which would reduce wear and tear on the streets.

“We need to find out from the community which way to go,” Brennan said.

Brennan added the cost of doing business has exceeded the revenue that comes into the county.

“Everything has gone up—the cost of materials, the cost of trucks, the cost of operating the facilities,” he said. “However, the rates for sanitation have remained the same for several years.”

DeKalb County is one of the few counties that collects trash twice a week.

“If you ask people about our sanitation division they love the two-a-week,” Brennan said. “We are trying to provide a means to a method that we have our priorities aligned with our customers.”

There are two remaining public meetings: Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at Cedar Grove High School, 2360 River Road, Ellenwood; and Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. at Chapel Hill Middle School in Decatur.

The CEO and the Board of Commissioners will receive the results of public input in February.  For more information, visit www.dekalbcountyga.gov/publicwrks/sanitationGarbage/index.html or call 404-371-3689.