SANFORD — Petitioners delivered signatures of registered voters to the Town Clerk’s Office this morning in their quest to overturn pay-as-you-throw trash disposal.

Troy Henke, an organizer of the drive to overturn pay-as-you-throw, said the Override Committee gathered 1,058 signatures in about 10 days.

The Town Council, in a 5-2 vote, approved the new trash disposal system March 23. It is set to go into effect July 12.

Town Clerk Claire Morrison said about 689 signatures ”“ or 5 percent of the registered voters of the town, are required to be certified for the process to move on to the next step. Morrison will have 10 days to certify the signatures and if all is in order, the Town Council is required to hold a public hearing within 30 days and then submit the ordinance to referendum at the next regular election ”“ likely Nov. 2.

Passage of the pay-as-you-throw ordinance means residents will have to purchase trash bags, at $1.25 for a 15-gallon bag or $2 for a 33-gallon bag in order to dispose of household waste. Curbside recycling pick-up, now every other week, will increase to once a week.

Opponents say the trash disposal system is nothing more than another tax.

“To put a surcharge on what we already pay for and to see no (corresponding) decrease in property tax is not fair or acceptable,” said Henke, who added that just because the committee doesn’t want pay-as-you-throw doesn’t mean they don’t favor recycling.

“We all recycle,” he said of the group that organized the petition drive.

Proponents say with pay-as-you-throw in place, trash disposal is more equitable for residents ”“ those who recycle will buy fewer bags than those who don’t.

But Terry Brown, a member of the Override Committee, noted that Sanford already has a mandatory recycling ordinance in place and suggested stepped-up enforcement.

The council has been mulling pay-as-you-throw and other trash removal systems for years in an effort to increase recycling and reduce trash disposal costs. Tipping fees at Maine Energy Recovery Company now cost the town nearly $80 a ton and that cost is scheduled to increase by 20 percent beginning Jan. 1, 2011. Proponents project pay-as-you-throw will boost recycling to 40 percent.

The pay-as-you-throw proposal took on a new urgency when state budget troubles resulted in cuts in revenue sharing to municipalities. That, coupled with decreases in excise tax revenues, meant the town was expected to have a $1 million budget gap.

Henke pointed out that the $1 million gap is now less, because the town recently got word they’ll receive $350,000 more in revenue sharing than earlier expected. He said municipal wage freezes are expected to save money and that the elected Finance Committee is still mulling the municipal budget for the May Town Meeting. The town is also conservative with its surplus, he said, and he believes the town can overturn pay-as-you-throw without a tax increase as a result.

“It shouldn’t cost as much to live in Sanford or the state of Maine,” said Committee member Steve Bruno. “The legislators and leaders don’t understand the people who live here.”

He pointed out that 25 years ago, the tax on one piece of property he owns was $450 and now it is close to $3,000 annually. He said the town should cut back on its spending.

“When you run out of money at home you have to cut back,” Bruno said.

He advocated increased education on the ease of recycling. He said a flyer he recently received in the mail was the first time he’d seen any educational effort on the need to recycle or how easy it is to recycle.

The pay-as-you-throw ordinance does contain a “sunset” provision that calls for a review that could mean modifications to the system or a discontinuance at the end of 2011. As well, the council agreed to introduce a policy to provide some relief to those who find paying for trash bags a hardship.

Henke said the submission of petitions to overthrow pay-as-you-throw is the first time the provision in the charter has been used.

“It gives voters an opportunity to have a direct say,” he said of the referendum.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.