Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to impose a $30 permitting fee and a $100 per-box fee on bins meant to collect clothing and books for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. They also approved a $50 fine for every day a collection bin isn’t properly maintained.

Selectmen voiced concerns that the bins had become a dumping ground for junk, not donations.

“To me, these things are problematic,” said Selectman Patrick Tropeano. “People go to put junk there and say, ‘OK, it’s gone.’”

Selectman Judith Whiteside said that she looked at what other Massachusetts cities and towns were doing to resolve the issue of the containers, which can cause a variety of other problems aside from junk piling up.

“People sleep in them. People die in them,” she said, recommending the board impose the fees and fines to assure proper maintenance.

Selectman Peter Teitelbaum said that a junk bylaw was recently approved by the state that gave cities and towns the green light to impose such fees and fines.

Town Counsel Richard Bowen said that imposing the fees and fines was legally acceptable.

“In most cities and towns, if you don’t comply, the receptacle can be removed,” said Whiteside.

Teitelbaum said the only exception is that the town cannot charge religious organizations.

“We can fine them if they’re not maintained. We can ask for a permit, but we can’t charge for a permit,” he said.