SOLID WASTE IN SAN JUAN COUNTY

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Solid waste tipping fees increased

San Juan County council unanimously approved a 5.66 percent increase in the tipping fees for solid waste. The increase goes into effect April 1, 2009.

Town raises rent to counter county rate increase

posted 01/16/04
Facing an increase from $140 to $160 per ton for garbage tipping fees, Friday Harbor Town Council voted to increase the rent it charges the county for the use of the recycling area at the transfer station. It currently charges the county $10 per month. The new fee will be approximately $2,700 per month.

The town council instructed staff to calculate the exact amount needed to cover the estimated $33,000 the increased tipping fee will cost the town annually. A resolution will be presented at the next council meeting.

The town owns the Sutton Road property where the transfer station is located. The county has a 20-year lease with the town for the area where the tipping floors are located. If the town wanted to terminate that lease, it would have to pay the county the market value of the improvements the county has made. The town cannot raise the lease rate.

The town has a rental agreement with the county for the shelf area of the site. The recycling bins are set up there. The rental agreement can be terminated with a 30-day notice.

Public Works Director Jon Shannon met with the council on Jan. 8, 2004. He explained the tipping fees had been increased to cover increased operating costs. The increase does not cover capital costs. "We’ve raised your rates three times in 10 years," he said. He pointed out the fee increases averaged out to 2.5 percent a year over the past decade.

Shannon pointed out the $160 tipping fee is 33 percent lower than the $238 per ton self-haulers pay. The $160 per ton commercial rate is charged to San Juan Sanitation and the Town of Friday Harbor.

"The original reason for the low rent was because the town got a price break," Mayor Gary Boothman said, "I don’t buy the argument we are getting a break." He noted the town could choose to run its own transfer station.

Town Administrator King Fitch told the council at the Jan. 15, 2004 meeting that the town's incinerator building has a tipping floor. While it was designed to be used to move garbage into an incinerator rather than the container boxes used to transport garbage, it might be possible to convert it. Fitch said he hadn't done any research into the cost of converting the tipping floor or into contracts for a hauler to take the garbage off-island.

Councilmember Wally Gillette suggested the town raise the per can fee to $6 per can. He asked if that would raise enough revenue to cover the increased tipping fees. Fitch said it would be more than enough.

The council voted 4 to 1 to direct staff to draw up a resolution regarding the higher rent fee. Gillette voted against the measure. He reminded the council Shannon had said the county would move its recycling boxes off the area and put them back in the leased area. Gillette said placing the recycling boxes in the crowded area would create an unsafe situation.

Town considers charging county more

posted 12/03/03
Town of Friday Harbor Administrator King Fitch suggested the town council consider increasing the lease rate the town charges for the recycling area at the transfer station. A cost of 18 cents per sq. foot would increase the rent to $2,700 per month from the current rate of "basically free," he said at the Nov. 20, 2003 council meeting.

At that rate the lease would bring in $30,000 a year - which equals the increase in tipping fees approved by the Board of County Commissioners last month. Town Attorney Don Eaton said, "If the town rates were to go up, an additional source of revenue would be to charge more for rental of the shelf (the recycling area)."

"Our agreement was $130 per ton," said Fitch. The town would let the county raise rates in the event of an emergency, he said. The BOCC increased tipping fees to $160 per ton.

The county leases space from the Town of Friday Harbor to operate the San Juan Island transfer station. There are two leases. One for the recycling area and the other for the garbage area. The larger garbage area is part of a long-term lease which has 11 more years to run. The other lease can be terminated with 30 days notice according to Fitch.

The county has purchased property for a new recycling plaza and is working on constructing the project. County Public Works Director Jon Shannon is scheduled to meet with the town council on Jan. 8, 2004.

Garbage disposal fees increased

posted 11/20/03
San Juan County Commissioners increased the tipping fees for garbage Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003. For commercial accounts the rate will be $160 per ton. Self haulers will pay $6 per can rather than $5. Garbage by weight will increase 6.6 percent to $238 per ton.

The new rate structure will take care of an anticipated $300,000 shortfall in operational expenses. The commissioners did not come up with a way to cover a $300,000 shortfall in capital costs.

The county has a solid waste utility district through which it could collect fees. The fees would be assessed through property taxes or a per parcel fee. Commissioners Rhea Miller and Darcie Nielsen favored such a fee or tax. Commissioner John Evans was adamant in his opposition to the idea.

Miller said, "I never believed capital costs should come out of a fee for service. Any civilized society takes care of its garbage. I think capital (funding) should come from property tax/ parcel tax. Operations (funding) from fees.

Evans said, "I can’t and will not support a property or parcel tax. I think it is only fair that the people using the system pay proportionately.

Nielsen asked him why he had agreed with the noxious weed tax. "I don’t understand your philosophy, why is it OK for noxious weeds and not recycling."

Evans noted the voters approved the noxious weed tax. "If you want to go to voters and ask if they want to put a taxing district in place and if voters want to do that as they have done with noxious weeds, fine." he said. "I believe in asking the tax payer."

Solid Waste Manager Jon Shannon said, "If you put it to a vote of the people, it would probably fail. If you ask people at the tranfer station, they will probably say do parcel fees."

Nielsen made a motion to survey the users at the transfer stations to see what they preferred. The motion died for a lack of a second.

No motion was made to impose the utility district fee. The commissioners decided to approve the solid waste budget with the deficit. However they will not allow Shannon to purchase capital items unless actual revenue is higher than anticipated. If revenue doesn’t come in higher than expected, the BOCC will figure out what to do as the capital needs arise.

SWAC suggests tax

posted 10/06/03
San Juan County’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee will ask the Board of County Commissioners to consider a property tax to cover solid waste capital expenses. Tipping fees would cover the costs of operations.

The committee members are concerned about the "death spiral" the county’s solid waste division faces. One of the goals of the Solid Waste Division is to divert more of the waste from landfills by encouraging recycling. There is no charge for recyclables, there is a charge for trash disposal. As the county becomes more successful in increasing the recycling rate, it reduces the amount of revenue received. The result is the death spiral.

One way to solve the problem is to charge for recycling. SWAC member Wally Gillettte suggested the county do so. Other committee members pointed out the need for more infrastructure and staffing to weigh the recyclables and collect the fees.

Since the existence of a solid waste operation increases the value of property, it seemed appropriate to the majority of SWAC members to charge either a per parcel fee or some other type of tax to pay for the infrastructure. By a vote of 6-1 during the Sept. 29, 2003 meeting, SWAC approved a resolution asking the BOCC to consider the tax idea.

No garbage rate increase, for now

posted 10/09/02
A tipping rate increase for garbage is not in the Solid Waste Division's 2003 proposed budget. Solid Waste Manager Jon Shannon said, "With good luck we might be able to get through next year without going into the red without increasing rates."

The budget was discussed at the Board of County Commissioners October 8, 2002 meeting. Commissioner John Evans complimented Shannon on the work he has done to turn around the solid waste division. "I'd strongly recommend, to keep that momentum going, you begin work now on evaluating the rate increase we would need (to stay in the black)."He noted it takes time to hold the hearings and notify the commercial haulers and other customers "if and when we need to adjust rates."

Commissioner Rhea Miller said, "I don't see a reason to increase rates, we got out of $100,000 in debt in a year. The garbage rates are formidable."

The county does not charge for recycling. The new system of commingled recycling allows residents to divert more waste from the garbage bins. Evans said, "The comments I'm getting is this is a boon for people. The more recycling we do with no revenue coming in, the more cost for garbage."

Shannon said the commissioners may be surprised with some of the ideas he has about options for rate increase. He had planned to present it to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee in a work session before presenting it to the BOCC.

Commissioner Nielsen said, "I hope we can avoid a rate increase, but I am very fearful about where ferry fares are headed." Shannon should present the rate increase ideas to SWAC she said.

Solid Waste to ask for tipping fee increase

posted 09/17/02
Solid Waste Manager Jon Shannon will recommend two tipping fee increases even though San Juan Solid Waste Division just began operating in the black for the first time in six years. "We barely inched into the black," he told the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) Monday, September 16, 2002. "If we don't do it (increase the fees) we will be back in the red."

Shannon will recommend an interim increase for 2003 while a rate study is conducted. He cited significant labor costs, the rise in ferry fares and the new bond debt to pay for the purchase of the Sutton Road property as the reasons the increase is needed. The county recently agreed to pay the Town of Friday Harbor $750,000 for the transfer station site.

The current fees are listed on this chart.

$200,000 turnaround in Solid Waste

posted 03/04/02
San Juan County's Solid Waste Division ended 2001 in the black. The cash gain for operations was $85,037 at the end of 2001 compared to a $121,239 loss in 2000 and a $23,952 loss in 1999. After factoring in capital expenses, grants and excise taxes the county's solid waste operations ended up $94,964 in the black.

Solid Waste Manager Jon Shannon shared the news at the Solid Waste Advisory Committee's Feb. 11 meeting. He handed out a summary of the solid waste operations from 1998-2001. "I'm most proud of the figure at the end," he said. "It is almost a $200,000 turnaround since last year. It is attributable to the staff and the hard effort they made in the field."

He cited these two lines as the most important in the report:

"The dramatic drop in those expenses is due to operational changes taking place," he said. "There is significantly more money for us to save in our operations. "

Public Works Director Tom Huse and Shannon have recommended the county sign an agreement with Waste Management Inc. to switch to a materials recycling facility as a way to reduce operational costs. The Board of County Commissioners will vote on the contract on March 12, 2002.

Commissioners split on county budget;
garbage self-haul rates to increase 18 percent

By Matt Pranger

posted 12/07/2000
San Juan County Commissioners Darcie Nielsen and John Evans voted for a $30 million 2001 budget Wedenseday, Dec. 6. Commissioner Rhea Miller, concerned about meeting revenue projections, opposed the spending package.

The budget, which includes $800,000 from reserves, is a 2 percent increase over this year's.

Evans was "very optimistic" about the 2001 budget but also wanted to review revenues and expenditures after the first and second quarter.

"The budget reflects the good times are over after this," Nielsen said. A proponent of a county administrator, she said, "Major management restructuring needs to occur. I'm not willing to get into it now. I'll bring it back."

Looming ferry fare increases that may lead to less business in the islands and less sales tax collections, and likely state and federal funding cuts prompted Miller to vote against the package. "I don't think it's fiscally responsible," she said.

County Auditor Si Stephens shared Miller's concerns about future revenue: "2001 may be a very difficult year; 2002 may be an even more difficult year."

If ferry fees increase, Stephens said, "The revenue stream will be curtailed and will force some reorganization."

Debate about solid waste funding and fee increases delayed the budget adoption. Nielsen and Evans resolved the issue by approving the solid waste plan as presented by county Public Works Director Tom Huse. Under that plan, self-haul rates will be increasing 15 percent plus an additional 3 percent until operating debt is paid off.

The county's solid waste division will also prepare a cost of service analysis for Town of Friday Harbor and franchise haulers -- primarily San Juan Sanitation -- based on a 5 percent increase. Disposal contracts with the county's two biggest garbage customers will be negotiated early next year.

Miller sought an across-the-board rate hike.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear," Miller said, "I think the solid waste budget is categorically unfair to the self-hauler, fiscally irresponsible and a threat to recycling in this county."

Disparity between tipping fees paid by the Town of Friday Harbor, franchise haulers and self haulers also concerned Neil Hanson of Lopez Island. "Advocacy for the self-hauler is conspicuously absent from the process," he told his fellow members of the county Solid Waste Advisory Committee on Monday, Dec. 4.

According to Hanson, using the standard of a 34-gallon can containing 40 pounds of trash, tipping fees currently break down as:

• $2.67 -- Town of Friday Harbor.
• $2.92 -- Franchise/commercial haulers.
• $4.25 -- Self-haulers.

Hanson, speaking as a SWAC member representing the interests of self-haulers, worries that self haulers will have to make up any shortfall in revenue after the rates are set for the other two.

He recommends rather than increasing the rates, the BOCC raise the excise tax -- which self-haulers and franchise/commercial haulers pay -- instead. "It would lead to long-term stability and would also lend greater transparency to setting up rates."

Because excise tax increases require public hearings, Hanson believes the public would have greater awareness of the rate structure and more opportunities to comment on the rates.

Too high an increase might result in franchise/commercial haulers taking garbage directly to the mainland, Huse said. If that happened, conceivably the county's transfer stations would generate considerably less revenue. "You're making the wrong decision if you make a 15 percent across-the-board increase," he told commissioners on Dec. 4, 2000.

The rate increase to the town and franchise haulers must be justified in service costs, Evans said, concurring with Huse. "We can't arbitrially increase their rate."

San Juan Sanitation would pass any fee increases on to customers. "I'm not interested in disenfranchising one-third of the constituents on San Juan Island," Nielsen said. She suggested adjusting the solid waste division's budget after the new rates with the town and San Juan Sanitation were negotiated.

Even if franchise hauler's rates increased, incentive -- an excise tax on their operations in San Juan County -- remains for them to continue dumping their garbage at island transfer stations, according to Miller.

Under the 2001 budget, recycling costs will be paid through tipping fees at the transfer stations.

"Waste disposal fees need to cover recycling," Nielsen said.

Miller also wanted recycling incorporated in tipping charges.

Evans preferred a quarterly-adjusted gate fee to help fund recycling. That would help fund the greater volume of recycling that occurs when garbage fees increase and fluctuations in recycled material markets, he said.

"Unless we have a mechanism like the gate fee, we'll be forever chasing our tails on this issue," Evans said.

Alices, restaurants and all others
face garbage fee hike

If Arlo and the rest of Alice's Restaurant gang show up at island solid waste transfer stations with a red VW Microbus full of garbage next year, they'll avoid Officer Odie but probably won't dodge an increase in fees. The county Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) is recommending the county increase the garbage disposal rate by 15 percent and a 3 percent surcharge until $365,000 of operating debt is paid off.

During their Nov. 20, 2000 meeting, SWAC members also endorsed changing the $2 minimum charge for garbage taken to transfer stations to the same fee charged for a 32-gallon can. If the increases are adopted by county commissioners, anyone delivering garbage to the transfer stations on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan islands would pay at least $5.

Public Works Director Tom Huse was told to prepare an analysis of improving the solid waste transfer sites by: 1. Increasing staff hours; or 2. Additional capital improvements.

SWAC members continued a debate on whether ferrous metals should be recycled. Currently the county $110 per ton to dispose -- double the price of disposing of garbage. Most counties do not accept ferrous metals, instead directing people scrap yards, Huse said.

The ferrous metal discussion led to questions about how much county residents were willing to fund recycling programs. Committee members discussed holding community meetings or sending out questionnaires to determine to what extent islanders will subsidize recycling.

Today’s county budget hearing won’t include looming, hefty garbage disposal fee hikes

posted 11/14/00
Taxpayers will be commenting on San Juan County's multi-million-dollar 2001 budget during a public hearing from 1 to 4 p.m. today (Nov. 14, 2000) in the County Courthouse, but they won’t be able to comment on an impending "dramatic" increase of a fee they pay regularly.

Rhea Miller, chair of the Board of County Commissioners, yesterday said the county commissioners "do believe there needs to be a dramatic rise" in solid waste disposal rates.

Miller was upset about that the Solid Waste Division "unilaterally spent $70,000 over its budget when it was already a quarter of a million dollars in debt." Commissioners last week approved a $225,000 emergency appropriation for the Solid Waste Division.

Public Works Director Tom Huse, who was hired after the 1999 budget was set, told county commissioners some calculations in the 1999 solid waste budget did not appear "valid." He was completing his department’s budget yesterday, but it will not include any specific garbage disposal rates for 2001. At the direction of the county commissioners Miller, John Evans and Darcie Nielsen, those are currently being discussed by the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC).

The mostly-volunteer committee is undertaking a messy task. San Juan County pays almost double for disposing garbage than any other county in the state. The county’s solid waste program finished with a positive cash balance only once in the past six years and is projected to complete this year with a deficit as high as $365,000. Paying the program’s existing debt and making it self-sustaining would require up to a 30 percent increase in dumping fees at transfer stations on Lopez, Orcas and San Juan islands. Purchasing the San Juan Island transfer station property from the Town of Friday and making improvements at the Orcas transfer station -- considered much needed -- could add an additional $1.5 million of debt.

"We have a very serious problem and we’ve been given the responsibility to solve it," Bruce Moorad , Solid Waste Advisory Committee chair, said during a SWAC meeting Nov. 13, 2000.

SWAC members did not come up with an overall solution, but concentrated their discussion on a general rate increase of about 25 percent. Committee members want more information before making a recommendation to county commissioners; specifically how the Town of Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor Resort and private hauler San Juan Sanitation would respond to a rate hike. Too great a hike might drive away them, which would lead to less revenue. The SWAC meeting was continued to noon Monday, Nov. 2, 2000 in the County Courthouse.

One rate increase was proposed by SWAC, though. Members voted unanimously for upping the appliance dumping fee to the amount that would cover the true cost of their disposal. At Miller’s suggestion, the committee is also recommending establishing a voucher system for people who could not afford to dispose of their appliances. Such a waiver would discourage the littering of appliances, including dangerous old refrigerators.

The SWAC members agreed to increase the construction and demolition waste disposal fee, which currently is less than half of standard commercial garbage. However, they did not agree on how much that bump should be. Miller noted revenues from an increase in construction material disposal fees might be applied to the solid waste program’s debt.

"The real problem here is what to do about the debt," Huse said.

He pointed out a 5 percent surcharge – basically a gate fee – would pay back the program’s existing debt in four or five years. Such a fee would "sunset" after the debt was paid.

SWAC members also briefly addressed the solid waste division’s consistent money loser – recycling. For most materials, it is cheaper for the county to dispose of many items currently being recycled.

"The more successful we are at recycling, the more it costs us," said SWAC member George Post.

The county’s revenues from recycling are growing. An estimated $42,640 will be generated from recycling this year, up from a $4,663 deficit last year. However, even with the additional revenue the county will spend about $265,385 on providing one of the most comprehensive programs in the state. Huse expects the net cost for recycling to continue to rise, but growing demand for mixed paper will limit the increase somewhat.

Huse and Commissioner Evans questioned whether the recycling program should be scaled back and some of the material currently being recycled just be disposed in the normal waste stream. "Darcie and I think the public is adamantly opposed to that," Miller said.

Evans also is a strong proponent for the solid waste system to be "self-sustaining."

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