Carl Pearson has been hauling away Cape Elizabeth residents’ unwanted items for nearly 20 years, and he could see his client list grow in the next couple of months if the Town Council decides to scrap the town’s bulky item pickup in the fall.

Town Manager Michael McGovern late last month submitted his budget proposal to the Town Council. It included doing away with the fall pickup, saving the town $18,000.

While that decision could inconvenience some residents, Pearson, whose business, Pearson’s Anything Goes, hauls residents’ trash to the town’s recycling center, said he wouldn’t be surprised if he saw an increase in business.

“It’s one of those bittersweet things because you don’t like seeing the residents lose a town service,” Pearson said. “It’s always good for a private business, however, when a municipality tries to compete with it and the competition goes by default. We welcome that.”

Cape has provided its residents with the fall bulky trash pickup for nearly 30 years, said Public Works Director Bob Malley. The town has picked up large items such as furniture, televisions and brush and hauled them to the town’s recycling center.

Malley said he recommended cutting the service from his highway improvement budget to help the town save money as it faces a $500,000 budget deficit.

Bulky pickup is a service, but Malley said he doesn’t see it as a necessary service such as snow plowing or road maintenance.

“It’s very challenging,” he said. “This is a service we’ve offered, but we need to make sure that we are providing key services, so I chose to eliminate bulky item collection.”

A typical bulky item collection lasts about three weeks and involves 14 of the 16 full-time public works employees using several large and medium-sized trucks, Malley said.

If the Town Council approves scrapping the service, residents would need to hire someone to haul away their trash or bring it to the recycling center on their own, Malley said.

Not all residents are convinced the solution would be that easy.

“I think any time you have less and less options for people to get rid of the refuse, the more and more you’re going to find it on the roads,” said Cape resident Nel Clark. “Right now it’s very nice and well run.”

Other residents, however, say they wouldn’t be bothered if the town dropped the service.

“We have used it a lot in the past,” said Jim Gaidos. “This year we actually have no use for it. It’s not going to affect us very much.”

McGovern and Malley’s budget recommendations come at a time when Cape is facing its worse budget crisis in nearly 30 years, McGovern said.

The budget proposal for this year is $8.5 million, down from $8.8 million last year, a drop of about 3.1 percent.

In addition to cutting bulky item pickup, McGovern is also recommending cutting the facilities manager from full time to part time, saving about $45,000 per year, and consolidating the dispatch service with Cumberland County’s, saving about $130,000.

McGovern projects town revenues will decline $300,000 from sources other than property taxes.

He expects excise taxes from registered motor vehicles to decline $170,000, state revenue sharing to drop nearly $71,000, investment income to drop by $40,000 and building permit fees by $22,000.

McGovern has also recommended getting rid of 100 street lights, saving the town $9,200, and doing away with Family Fun Day, saving about $7,500.

McGovern is also proposing decreasing the tax rate 2 cents, from $17.44 per $1,000 of valuation to $17.42. That equates to a decrease of about half a percent.

The Town Council will formally begin budget discussions March 19 with follow-up meetings scheduled for March 23 and 26.

A public hearing on all budgets is scheduled for April 13. The Town Council will adopt its budget on April 30. The school budget faces a town vote May 12.

“My only thought is that in these times, everything is on the table for this discussion,” Town Councilor David Backer said. “We are looking for any opportunities to increase revenue and decrease expenses. Fall pickup is one that will inconvenience citizens that have come to enjoy it, but there are other ways for people to get their trash to the recycling center.”

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