The Lake County Board of Supervisors recently adopted new landfill rates to help offset the costs of landfill operations and increasing and costly compliance regulations.
During the last three years, the continued downturn in the economy and the increase in recycling has dramatically reduced the amount of refuse – and the revenue – going into the Eastlake Landfill, and as a result, the Solid Waste Division has been operating with a $500,000 annual deficit, as Lake County News has reported.
Closure of the county-operated Lakeport Transfer Station in late 2009 helped save $300,000 annually for the fuel, equipment maintenance, and staffing for that facility. Since that time, the division reported that it has been able to draw from available solid waste reserves to cover the balance of deficits, but those reserves have now been depleted.
To address the financial needs of operating the landfill, the rates will go up 16 percent from $37 per ton to $42.92 per ton. Public Services said that, even with the approved increase, the Eastlake Landfill will have considerably lower rates than surrounding landfills which charge tipping fees in the $60 to $75 per ton range.
Volume rates for loads up to 5 cubic yards will go up from $5.25 per cubic yard to $6.10 per cubic yard, the agency reported. The minimum gate fee will go up to $5 and prices will be increased for individual materials such as couches ($10), mattresses ($5-15 depending on size), and 30-gallon bags or cans ($1.50 each) to help cover the cost of processing the materials and operations.
Smaller increases of 6 percent annually in 2012, 2013 and 2014 will be applied for tonnage and volume loads for each of the following three years. The end result will be that at the end of the fourth year local ratepayers will gradually reach the $500,000 in additional revenue required to cover the annual budget operational deficit.
Landfill rates will be passed through by the franchise haulers to their curbside residential and commercial customers. Depending on the level of service, residential customers can expect beginning in July 2011 to see an increase of about 22 to 35 cents per month on their quarterly statement – about a 3 percent increase – for a standard 32-gallon service in the unincorporated areas.
Commercial customers will see about $3 to $4.40 per monthly increase for a four-cubic yard bin picked up weekly. The cost depends on the location, size, and frequency of service.
The transfer station operated by Lake County Waste Solutions in Lakeport also will pass through the landfill increases.
Lakeport Transfer Station Rates
Tonnage rate: $52.95 per ton
Volume rate: $ 7.15 per cubic yard
Mattresses/couches: $10 each
30-gallon cans/bags: $ 1.50 each
Minimum fee: $ 5.50
At the same time the rate increase was approved, the Board of Supervisors approved a five-year contract with Solid Waste Solutions (SWS) to bring about 65 tons per day of refuse beginning in January 2012 from the Ukiah transfer station which they operate for the City of Ukiah.
Public Services said this contract will generate approximately three transfer trucks per day Monday through Saturday traveling from Ukiah via Highway 29 and Highway 53.
The money produced by the five-year contract allows the county to return to the same level of disposal and income that was produced in 2006, officials reported. The money generated is expected to replenish the solid waste reserves that are required for planning expansion of the landfill into adjacent property already owned by the county that must be planned and funded in the next couple of years.
The cost for this expansion is estimated at $3 million to $5 million. Increased revenue will also provide funding for a state mandate that requires all landfills to install a landfill gas system for monitoring and potential conversion of gas to energy at an estimated cost of $3 million.
Public Services said the revenue from the five-year import contract removes the burden on the local residents and businesses to cover these compliance and expansion costs.
With the import option approved, local ratepayers will see a gradual increase in rates as outlined above to cover only the $500,000 annual shortfall for normal operations.
Public Services stated that, had the import option not been approved, the impact on local ratepayers would have been significantly higher. To achieve the same level of revenue that will be brought in by import, rates would have had to go up by 95 percent immediately, an option that neither staff nor a majority of board members supported in the fragile economy.
Once the initial five-year contract period has expired, Public Services said the smaller local increases that were implemented in the previous five years will place the county in a better financial condition to cover its operational and compliance costs and allow the county to determine if an additional five-year
import extension is in the best interest of the county.
For more information on landfill rates, contact Caroline Chavez at the Public Services Department at 707-262-1760. New rate sheets are being distributed to customers at the Eastlake Landfill.
For more information on curbside rates, contact your franchise hauler. More information on county franchise haulers, programs and recycling opportunities can be found on the County's recycling Web site at: www.recycling.co.lake.ca.us.
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