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Council may open an investigation into whether the city is being overcharged for garbage collection.

At issue are figures which show that the amount of trash being picked up has increased more than 20 percent, even as McKeesport's population has continued to drop.

While officials say that poor recycling compliance by residents and garbage dumping by out-of-towners may account for some of the increase, council members this week asked publicly whether Nickolich Sanitation of Clairton, which has held the city's trash contract since 2008, is mingling garbage picked up from other municipalities with trash collected in McKeesport.

Because McKeesport pays for trash collection by the ton and not by the number of houses collected, that would make the city's tonnage figures artificially high.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, Company President Nickolas Nickolich had not returned a phone call from Tube City Almanac seeking comment.

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McKeesport pays Nickolich $73 per ton for trash collection, then bills homeowners a municipal service fee for garbage removal and other activities. Residents may put out as much garbage as they want to, though businesses are required to contract for their own trash removal, and contracting waste or commercial garbage isn't supposed to be removed by Nickolich as part of its residential trash collection.

The city paid $170,000 more for garbage collection in 2010 than it budgeted, City Controller Raymond Malinchak says.

It is possible that more garbage is being put out by residents, officials say, though they add a 20 percent swing is unlikely. "We had a target amount that we budgeted, and we went over the budget, but ultimately, we have to pick up the garbage that's out there --- that's the bottom line," Malinchak says.

Recyclables are still collected by city public works employees, although the city is considering using a private contractor and reassigning those workers to other duties, probably in the street department, City Administrator Dennis Pittman says.

Switching trash collection from Allied Waste to Nickolich was expected to save McKeesport taxpayers about $1.5 million over the life of the contract, Council President MIchael Cherepko says. While the city is still saving money by using Nickolich, he says it's not the savings council was promised.

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Council this week was considering a proposal to extend Nickolich's contract through 2014, and was prepared to award the company the contract to collect recyclables as well. But the doubts about the unexpected increase in the amount of trash being collected led council to put those actions on hold.

Officials also want to know whether there's any truth to an anonymous letter sent to all city council members that accuses Nickolich of picking up McKeesport trash using garbage trucks that aren't completely empty, and not subtracting the weight of that garbage from the bills being sent to the city --- in effect, double-billing.

Nickolich also collects garbage in several nearby Mon Valley municipalities, including Elizabeth Township, Port Vue, Pitcairn and New Eagle.

Although no one from Nickolich Sanitation spoke at this week's council meeting, at least two of its competitors --- Allied and Waste Management --- did attend. Representatives of both companies urged the city to rebid the trash collection contract at the end of this year.

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Some neighboring municipalities charge residents by-the-bag for garbage collection, or limit the amount of trash that can be placed outside for collection. If the amount of garbage generated in McKeesport really has increased dramatically, Mayor Regis McLaughlin says, it may be time for McKeesport to join other communities that charge by the bag or in limiting the amount of trash put out by each household.

Among those pressing for an official investigation is Councilman Darryl Segina, who's challenging Cherepko, Malinchak and McLaughlin for the Democratic nomination for mayor. While Segina says the anonymous letter sent to council "should be taken with a grain of salt," he says the city does need to examine Nickolich's hauling practices.

"I don't care who picks (the garbage) up, as long as we're getting a fair price, and we're getting billed for the right amount of tonnage," Segina says.

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