What was billed as a public hearing on a proposed 23 percent rate increase at the Salt Lake City-County Landfill turned into a 46 percent bombshell Friday.
The Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Council stunned the handful of people in attendance at the hearing with a recommendation that the landfill disposal fee be increased from $13 per ton to $19 per ton, $3 more than anyone expected.Those attending were even more surprised to learn that the additional revenues would probably finance a county recycling program and a controversial garbage transfer station.
"The residents of West Valley and the other cities that use the landfill are being asked to subsidize something that won't benefit them," said West Valley Public Works Director Russ Willardson, who cast the council's lone dissenting vote.
According to Willardson, the $16-per-ton rate that was originally proposed is sufficient to fund higher operating and reserve costs at the landfill. Anything more could be characterized as profit, which violates the principle of the landfill enterprise fund, he said.
Willardson also complained that the landfill council sprang the higher rate on an unsuspecting public. "This room would have been full if people had been aware of what was being proposed," he said.
Instead, the only public comment came from South Salt Lake Public Works Director Mike Mehraban, who said, "South Salt Lake City is against a $19 charge for a tipping fee that is for profit."
While the proposed increase applies to municipal and commercial haulers, it would almost certainly be passed along to residential and commercial customers, Willardson said.
For West Valley households, that translates to $9 each per year. "There is no way the city could absorb the cost," Willardson said. "And remember, two-thirds of that $9 would benefit someone other than the West Valley homeowner."
County Public Works Director Lonnie Johnson proposed and defended the $19 rate, arguing that it is necessary to meet higher operating costs, fund an environmental liability reserve account and forestall future rate increases.
He conceded, however, that the increase is also intended to finance a county recycling program that only indirectly benefits suburban city residents. "It's true," Johnson said, "but as the owners of the landfill, we (Salt Lake City and County) have a greater liability than the users."
Should an environmental disaster occur, for example, "the feds would look to us to pay for it, not West Valley or South Salt Lake." And he offered to make those cities or others co-owners of the landfill, "if they are willing to pay the price."
Besides, he added, recycling benefits all landfill users by extending the life of the landfill. "I can tell you there will never ever be another landfill licensed in Salt Lake County," he said.
The county's recycling program revolves around a proposed transfer station, where recyclable items would be removed from garbage destined for the landfill and shipped to recyclers on the West Coast.
Johnson said he favors locating the station at the site of the county public works shops in Midvale. "We own the property, so there would be no land purchase costs; and it's adjacent to the railroad and has easy access to large arterial routes," he said.
Midvale officials have expressed strong opposition to the site plan as well as fears that the county intends to steamroll it into town. In August, City Council members said they would do whatever is necessary to keep the garbage clearinghouse out of their community.
With the $19 tipping rate apparently linked to the proposed facility, the debate is likely to heat up when the fee recommendations reach the Salt Lake City Council on Dec. 7 and County Commission on Dec. 8.