Overland Park could move to a single-contract trash-hauling system that allows homeowners associations with their own contracts to opt out.

While nothing is official yet and won’t be for quite some time, those are some of the key details from Overland Park’s proposed solid waste management overhaul, as presented last week during open house meetings on the topic.

Some details remain uncertain, like which hauler Overland Park will select, the actual monthly cost per household and what days residents will have their trash picked up.

But it does offer clarity for residents about what the new system might look like and how it might impact the way their trash, recycling and yard waste are hauled, whether they live in an HOA or not.

All of this follows a Solid Waste Study completed earlier this year that revealed wide disparities in the price households across Overland Park were paying for their trash hauling and other inefficiencies.

“Any option is better than the one we have,” said Jeff Lee, a northern Overland Park resident, earlier this year. He supported a move to a city-contracted trash system.

What’s in the proposed trash plan?

Under the recommended solid waste management system, Overland Park will pick just one hauler to do all trash hauling city-wide under a single contract, said Julie Davis, a consultant and environmental scientist from Burns and McDonnell.

However, active HOAs would be able to opt out and keep their own individual contracts with haulers. As part of the process, those HOAs that decide to opt out will need to provide the city proof of their contract and a list of addresses covered under it, among other potential requirements.

Otherwise, all other households will be automatically looped into the city’s contract with whichever hauler is ultimately picked through a formal open bidding process.

The proposal also ponders weekly trash and recycling pickup, in line with current practice. It would also have a seasonal yard waste collection approach, with the service provided weekly March through November and monthly during the colder months. Bulky item pickup would be available quarterly as well.

New trash and recycling carts will be distributed to households covered by the city’s contract, though it’s unclear what size they will be.

Curb-side composting and glass recycling pick-ups will not be offered under the city’s contract, Davis said.

Overland Park will bill for trash with a special property tax assessment

Residents will be billed for their city-contracted trash hauling services through a special assessment applied to their city property tax bill.

The fee will be flat for all households and billed yearly, said Lara Isch, Overland Park’s sustainability manager.

That said, there is still no estimate for the monthly cost per household under the city contract.

However, earlier this year, city projections estimated that it would cost about $22.92 per household per month under a city-contracted system that allows HOAs to opt out.

That’s significantly cheaper than the rate some households not in HOAs are paying for the service now and comparable to the rate paid by households that are in HOAs, according to comparisons in the Overland Park Solid Waste Study.

“The whole reason that the city is doing this is it is intended to provide the best quality and cost to residents, and right now that cost discrepancy is occurring very, very distinctly between non-HOA members of the community and the open market,” Davis said. “So the intent is to lower that so that they are more in line with one another.”

Next steps:

Overland Park has yet to adopt a new solid waste management plan and is still months away from doing so.

The Overland Park City Council will hear the formal recommendation for the first time at one of its December meetings. Then, the city will hold a public hearing for residents to weigh in before the city council votes to finalize anything early next year.

From there, under Kansas law, the 18-month waiting period begins. So, the earliest a new city contract could take effect is on Jan. 1, 2029.

In the meantime, Overland Park will need to go through the process of picking a hauler to service its citywide trash, recycling and yard waste contract.

The city may need to update its existing ordinances that govern how and when trash is hauled in Overland Park to account for any necessary changes under a future contract. That would likely need to be completed before the new trash system starts in 2029.

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