November 2, 2020 3:40 a.m.

After a two-year process, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners have approved a small fee increase in the cost of disposing items at the landfill and transfer stations.

A release from the Board, said the process involved “…exhaustive scrutiny, public comment and a plethora of operational ideas and proposals” concerning the future of the County’s Solid Waste Program.

The Board decided to keep all 11 of the transfer stations operational, not change or eliminate the single can rate structure, reject the three can minimum and decline the recommended $5 per can rate increase. The new rates, which will go into effect on Wednesday, equate to roughly a thirty cent per bag or $1 per 35-gallon can increase.

The release said after reviewing all the options, making the decision to keep all 11 transfer stations open was easy, as Commissioners wanted all residents to have easy and local access to waste disposal, as well as to help alleviate potential refuse dumping in rural areas. The release said the decision to keep the single can rate and not approve the $5 can rate increase proposal was based on the feedback provided by residents during and after the open house events hosted last year. Residents on fixed income or that do not produce large amounts of refuse wanted to still be able to afford to go to a transfer station, according to the release.

Commissioners say the Solid Waste department has been impacted by several unanticipated budget expenditures, that have made it impossible to operate within budget under the current fee structure. Senate bills 245 and 263 forced the County to pay the Department of Environmental Quality an increase in tipping fees of 27 percent. Environmental compliance and mandatory permit fees have increased by nearly 100 percent. Other increased costs were cited as well.

The release said a recent notice from the Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically increased required compliance expenses for the County’s financial assurance account from $500,000 to $1.2 million annually. Solid waste departments with active landfills are required to place funds in a “landfill closure account”. That is based on a formula used to calculate the anticipated expenses associated with the future closure and post closure monitoring on a landfill.

The release said this is the first fee increase that has been assessed since the disposal fee program was implemented over five years ago.