GOSHEN — While Elkhart decides whether to charge its residents for trash pickup, Goshen has also been mulling it over.

Mayor Allan Kauffman said the city has talked about charging for trash services on and off for years, but the discussion was never as necessary as it is now.

The city has historically paid for trash pickup through revenue generated through property taxes. Facing very low returns there, Kauffman floated the idea to look into charging to pick up trash.

“We’ve been able to delay charging for this service,” Kauffman said. “There’s just not as much property taxes as there used to be.”

According to Kauffman, the trash service costs the city about $850,000 per year. “Ideally, I’d like to recapture that” if a charge was to be applied, he said.

Kauffman said that if the charge is implemented, it would most likely cost an amount similar to Elkhart’s proposed fee.

He added that he would hope to ease into the full charge over several years — not funding the whole project from the outset — and has looked at scenarios including and excluding the city’s recycling program as well.

Though the topic is out there, the city is only in the investigative stage, with no major details hashed out.

Kauffman likened the discussion to a “chicken and the egg argument” in that he would need to get a feel from city council about whether it would even be open to charging citizens at all for the service.

If the council decides not to approve any charges, Kauffman said looking into more cuts will be inevitable, potentially in the service altogether.

“We’ll have to look at ‘Is trash pick-up a necessary public service,’” he said.

Around Elkhart County

Charging for trash services has been discussed around the county. Residents of Middlebury, Bristol and Nappanee need not worry, however, about trash pickup costing them in the near future.

“We’ve discussed it at annual budget discussions,” Middlebury town manager Mark Salee said. “It’s always on the list but it’s never been seriously considered.”

As of now, the city plans to continue its policy of one trash can per home.

Salee said residents may use a second can for $9.75 a month, but if they want to participate in a recycling program, they must contract with an outside organization.

“It was discussed at one of our first budget roundtables,” said Bristol town clerk Mary Ryman. She noted that the idea was quickly dismissed.

Nappanee clerk-treasurer Kim Ingle said the city will most likely eventually look into an alternative to paying for trash services through EDIT funds. For now, though, the city already plans to continue paying for pickup through the next fiscal year.