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02/28/2007: "9% More To Dump Garbage"

Public Works has released the new fee schedule that will go into effect at the end of March: If you have been thinking about doing a little spring cleaning around the old homestead, now is a good time to make that trip to the dump. At the end of March it will cost 9% more to unload trash at the Public Works solid waste facilities.

Public Works would like to point out that there has not been a fee increase since April 1, 2004 (At the time the joke was on you, if you thought it was a joke). On December 19, 2006 the County Council agreed with Public Works that additional money was needed to run the program, and passed Ordinance 24-2006, which raised solid waste tipping fees by approximately 9%. Beginning March 31, 2007 residents will pay 13 cents per pound for garbage disposal, up from the current 11.7 cents per pound. Recycling services will continue to be available at no charge (see the complete fee schedule below).


* $260 per ton is equal to 13 cents per pound
** Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators (CESQG) are businesses that generate less than 220 pounds of hazardous material.

Anyone with questions about the fee increase or other aspects of the solid waste program should contact Ed Hale, Solid Waste Program Manager or visit "Hot Topics" on the solid waste web site at http://www.co.san-juan.wa.us/publicworks/index.html

This increase was recommended by County staff due to a projected budget shortfall for 2007 of $185,000. The primary reason given for the shortfall is increased contract costs for transportation and disposal of waste and recyclables which have increased as much as 11% since 2004.

The transportation and disposal contracts are with Waste Management and San Juan Sanitation and have a term of 10 years. Each year the contract is adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index. " The solid waste program is an enterprise fund which means no taxes are used to support the program. When our contract costs increase our only significant source for additional revenue is increased tipping fees." said Ed Hale, Solid Waste Program Manager.