Residents of Stafford's service district pay an additional fee to the town for services like trash pickup, city sewers, street lights, and sidewalk repairs. Technically, the town is reimbursed by the service district for providing those services. But, so far, leaf pickup has not been fully reimbursed by the service district, according to Lynn Nenni, Interim Finance Director. At the September 6, 2023, Board of Selectmen meeting, Nenni said that the service district was only budgeting for the equipment used to pick up leaves but that labor, gasoline, and other costs were falling on the town.
Nenni said that Devin Cowperthwaite, Public Works Director, had tallied the total costs and estimated them to be about $21,000 in addition to the $5,000 being paid by the district for the equipment. She wanted the Board to vote on whether or not to start a conversation about asking the service district to start budgeting for the full cost of leaf pickup.
The board voted to start the discussion, even though it may be too late for this year's budget.