Request By:
Hon. John Lair
Attorney at Law
16 East Pike Street
Cynthiana, Kentucky 41031
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of March 8 in which you raise the question as to whether or not a city that operates its own garbage collection and disposal system in the city can contract to furnish such services with the owners of a shopping center located outside. This would enable the city to receive additional revenue needed for the maintenance of the city operated landfill.
Our response to your question would be in the affirmative. The provisions of KRS 94.282 to 94.286 clearly authorized cities of all classes to operate a garbage disposal system within and without the city which has been cited in a prior opinion, OAG 70-352, copy attached. However, the referred to act was repealed in 1980 when the Municipal Code was enacted giving cities basic home rule power under KRS 82.082 to enact appropriate legislation for the furtherance of any public purpose and not in conflict with the Constitution or any statutes. This home rule power, however, is limited to the corporate limits of the city as far as the right of the city to exercise its police power, as for example the power to mandatorily require residents of the city to utilize the city garbage collection system. City of Radcliff v. Hardin County, Ky. App., 607 S.W.2d 132 (1980). Nevertheless, we continue to believe that although the city cannot require nonresidents to utilize its garbage system under its police power, we believe it can contract to serve nonresidents as the repealed statute authorized if it so desires and does not inhibit, interfere or over burden the collection procedure with respect to residents of the city.