A Davis County garbage-collection official says there will be no increase in the "tipping fee" at the Energy Recovery Facility.
That may come as some relief to Davis residents, who have seen sharp increases recently in their garbage-collection rates.Robert Arbuckle, chairman of the Davis County Energy Recovery District, said last week that there is no intent to raise tipping fees charged to commercial haulers at the burn plant facility in Layton.
The facility burns garbage to create steam, which is sold to neighboring Hill Air Force Base at a price based on the current price of natural gas.
Because of lower-than-predicted natural gas prices, however, the energy district has been unable to reap the revenue it needs to pay off a $54 million bond, which is due by 2006.
To offset the low revenues from the sale of steam, the district has been forced to increase the tipping fee, or the fee it charges to waste haulers that bring residential garbage to the facility.
In 1986, the tipping fee was $15 per ton. Two years later, it was increased to $25. In 1989 it was increased to $35, in 1990 to $50.
The tipping fee increases forced cities to increase their monthly garbage-collection rates by as much as $3.
The energy recovery district includes Morgan County and all of Davis County except Bountiful, which has its own landfill.