An uptick in tipping fees won’t cure the long-standing ills of San Juan County’s solid waste operation, but it’s the backup plan for keeping the cash strapped utility financially afloat in the event voters shoot down the grand bailout that’s in store.
The County Council voted without dissent June 14 to recalibrate disposal prices for garbage and recyclables. Per-ton tipping fees for self haulers will rise six percent; for the county’s “franchise hauler” and for the Town of Friday Harbor, which began began hauling its refuse to the mainland nearly 10 months ago, per-ton fees will rise 18 percent.
The council also agreed to ratchet down recycling disposal fees because the county’s first ever recycling fees, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, have not generated revenue at expected levels.
The volume of recycled material collected at the county’s three transfer stations has fallen sharply since the fees went into effect, county administrator Pete Rose said.
“We’re getting many fewer recycling trips than we’d hoped to get,” he said.
Rose added that of 6,159 recycling transactions recorded so far this year, 5,857 were for the minimum $5 fee, which applies to loads of up to one cubic yard, or roughly the equivalent of six 32-gallon cans. Recycling fees were anticipated to generate $400,000 to $500,000 this year.
Russ Harvey, interim director of the Department of Public Works, said people appear to be adjusting recycling habits to avoid falling into either of the top two fee categories: $25 for seven to twelve 32-gallon cans – 1-2 cubic yards – or $50 for more than 12 cans. He said that reducing the price of the top two fees might encourage people to bring larger loads.
Under the prices approved by the council, the cost for seven to 12 cans will drop to $10; the cost for more than 12 cans or two cubic yards will be $25.The minimum fee, at $5, remains unchanged.
The new self-haul fees take effect July 1, while the 18 percent boost in the “franchise hauler” fee is slated to go into effect Sept. 1.
Meanwhile, the council last week moved a step closer to pinning down details of an ordinance slated for the November election ballot, which would include an annual parcel fee, the amount and the duration of which has yet to be determined, as well as an across-the-board reduction in tipping fees of nearly $200 per ton.
In considering nine options presented by the council’s solid waste subcommittee, the full council gave a collective head-nod to No. 9, which anticipates generating $9 million over six years through a parcel fee that’s estimated to cost each household between $100 to $120 a year. It also assumes that $270,000 a year would be raised by a $5 gate fee, that the Town of Friday Harbor would return to hauling its garbage to the transfer station on San Juan Island, and that fees would produce roughly $2.5 million a year.
The ordinance is now under construction by the prosecuting attorney’s office. It is expected to go before the county council for final ballot approval at a July 26 public hearing, and would be presented to voters in November.
New recycle fees
• $5: 1 cubic yard or up to 6 cans (32 gallon).
• $10: 1-2 cubic yards or up to 12 cans.
• $25: 2-plus cubic yards or more than 12 cans.
