HARTFORD — The Selectboard voted Tuesday night to trash the town’s curbside recycling program starting July 1.

The program, which is funded by local property taxes, was budgeted for $325,000 in the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1. The contract with Casella Waste Management dates back to 2016 and stipulates that the private company will pick up recyclables from residential properties in Hartford at no direct cost to individuals. The contract was set to expire last June, but had been extended twice since then.

The Selectboard began evaluating the service last spring when the initial contract with Casella expired and the company projected an increased cost.

After an hour of discussion Tuesday, the board voted to eliminate the program, 3-2. Board member Brandon Smith abstained without giving a reason and Michael Hoyt was not at the meeting.

Selectboard members Ida Griesemer, Erik Krauss and Chairwoman Mary Erdei voted in favor of eliminating the program.

Krauss said his decision came down to what the town would have to “sacrifice” to make up for the budget shortfall that would result from increases to the program’s costs.

“Those families that are going to be hurt by not having curbside recycling, we don’t know the answer to how they’re going to be hurt” by other possible cuts, Krauss said. “If we’re discontinuing the program, we know the consequences.”

Less than half of Hartford residents participated in the program, according to a presentation included in the board’s April 15 meeting agenda.

Without the program, residents will have to bring recyclables to the Hartford Transfer Center or Lebanon Solid Waste facility, or contract directly with a hauler to collect curbside, according to an email from Town Manager John Haverstock included in the meeting packet.

In a memo, Department of Public Works Director Bryan Gazda wrote that eliminating the program would “require price increases” at Hartford’s transfer station.

Ahead of the April 15 meeting, the town released a request for proposals for the program. Only Casella submitted a bid for three-year and five-year contracts. Both exceeded the current $325,000 budgeted amount by more than $240,000 for the next fiscal year. It also included price increases each year after that.

“Continuing with the program, there’s a substantial increase to the taxpayers regardless of how you look at it,” Gazda said in a recording of Tuesday’s meeting.

Haverstock said he and Finance Director Gail Ostrout would have to make cuts from the 2026 budget from every town department to keep the process “equitable.”

Board members Ashley Andreas and Miranda Dupre voted to continue the program.

Andreas said she does not think eliminating the program will reduce cost for residents who would pay directly for a commercial contract or pay increased costs at the transfer station. She added that without the program she “would like to think that I’ll do the right thing and I’ll go to the transfer station, (but) that’s a tall ask of families.”

Resident Heidi Duto also pointed out that “taxpayers already voted” to keep the program running in the budget approved at Town Meeting in March. Town officials have the authority to make budget changes due to changing circumstances, Haverstock said.

A spokesperson for Casella said the company was “disappointed” in the Selectboard vote, but will continue to collect recyclables from individual properties and manage Hartford’s transfer station.

“As a longtime customer, we had hoped to be able to come to an agreement after they put the work out to bid, but understand that municipal leaders have to make decisions based on what they believe is best for their residents,” the spokesperson said in an email Wednesday.

Clare Shanahan can be reached at cshanahan@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.