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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Selectmen opted to recycle the current annual trash fee, voting to maintain a $240 fee for the second year in a row.

Selectmen voted 4-1 in favor of setting the fee at $240. Selectman Christopher Sweet voted against the fee, saying he was not comfortable enough with the information to make "an educated, proper decision."

The level fee is good news when compared to last year's fee hike.

Last year, the trash fee more than doubled to $240 because the town negotiated a new contract with its trash hauler Waste Management. In addition, selectmen had voted to keep the trash fee low by dipping into its reserves in the past. However, the town can no longer afford to do that.

Still, selectmen were hoping they would be able to approve a lower trash fee because trash tonnage is dropping as recycling increases. "Throughout the year, I got the impression that things were going a little better. I thought we were going to reduce the fee, which would be good, with all of the layoffs and the economy going down," Selectman John Rhyno said.

Town Administrator Mark Fisher said residents are still getting a bit of a break because the cost for curbside pickup is going up by $9 per household, but the town has absorbed that increase.

"Because of the steps we've taken and what's happening with the tonnage, we're able to maintain a level fee, even though the cost of pickup is going up," he said.

Selectmen plan to review the situation again in October after the state Department of Revenue certifies the figures in the landfill account in the hopes that there will be enough money in reserve to offer residents a small break.

"The important thing to remember is 10 percent of the people in this town are unemployed," Selectman Michael Thompson said. "$10 or $20 might not sound like much, but it's a tank of gas or half a tank of gas."

Like last year, residents will have the option to pay the fee in two installments.

The cost of bags and tags for the Pay As You Throw trash program will also remain the same at $1 for a small bag and $1.50 of large bags, as will the tipping fees charged for bringing items to the Mount Hope Recycling Center.

The only other change to the trash program relates to the sticker residents use for the recycling center, which is at the closed landfill on Mount Hope Street.

Instead of being issued at the beginning of the fiscal year in July, the stickers will now be issued in January and be valid for an entire calendar year.

Due to that change, residents will be able to use the recycling center with their current stickers until January. "So basically, if you paid the 2009 fee, you'll get an extra six months with your sticker at no cost," Fisher said.