Salt Lake City and County may have won the battle for higher landfill fees but could lose the war if West Valley City's claims over the landfill are found to have merit.
West Valley Mayor-elect Jerry Wright raised the ownership issue Wednesday, arguing that his city's 90,000 residents were in the county when the landfill enterprise fund was created in 1979.Since fees from the then-unincorporated West Valley communities helped pay for the landfill, West Valley residents may retain some ownership rights over the facility, Wright said.
Wright raised the question as landfill owners Salt Lake City and County were voting to raise tipping fees for commercial and municipal haulers from $13 per ton to $19 per ton.
Garbage collection charges in West Valley City could increase by $9 per household per year to cover the fee hike, with comparable price hikes in store for South Salt Lake and businesses throughout Salt Lake County.
Also, officials predict the Trans-Jordan Landfill will raise its rates to deter bargain-shopping haulers, which could mean higher garbage fees for the rest of the cities in the county.
Both the Salt Lake City Council and County Commission adopted the fee hike this week without saying whether they might eventually pass the fee hike along to their own city and unincorporated county residents.
County Public Works Director Lonnie Johnson said elected officials could use some of the $2 million generated by the fee hike to offset the higher tipping fees charged to the city and unincorporated county. The rest of the money will be used to finance environmental requirements and recycling programs, Johnson said.
Using enterprise-fund revenues for purposes other than the operation of the landfill may be illegal, according to West Valley and state officials. "And it's not justified," Wright added, saying the landfill should charge no more than it needs for its operations.
Commission Chairman Jim Bradley agreed with Wright, saying a $16 fee would cover all of the operating costs. Anything above $16 is "price gouging," Bradley said.
But he was outvoted by Commissioners Brent Overson and Randy Horiuchi, who insisted the additional revenues will benefit the entire county by extending the life of the landfill and financing recycling efforts.
Horiuchi also rejected Wright's assertion that West Valley residents have an ownership stake in the landfill. "When you decide to incorporate, you give up some things," Horiuchi said.
But not enterprise-fund properties, Wright responded, adding, "It's something that should be researched." Assenting to that much, the commission directed its legal staff to look into the issue but warned the lawyers not to delve into the broader question of double taxation.
The 400-member Valley West Chamber of Commerce also opposed the fee hike. Chamber director Jill Elliss called it a tax increase in disguise. "It will raise the cost of doing business without providing any benefits to those businesses," she said.
Elliss also warned that the high fee could lead to an increase in illegal dumping. People trying to avoid paying the fee may resort to using the trash containers of other businesses or discarding items in empty lots and along roadways.