"Where Olmsted County News Comes First"
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Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:36:49, May 15th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Though I hated to see you reference Glenn Beck by name [Three Times ... [Read More]
- 11:42:07, May 10th 2013 - yenken - I feel very sorry for those who have commented do far, as when you stand fa ... [Read More]
- 12:10:25, Apr 26th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Mr. "Cabtrom's" garbage-out[burst]--in response to Ms. Reisner's w ... [Read More]
- 9:51:50, Apr 24th 2013 - jeff pischke - To Jerry Grehl, the number to the fillmore county sheriffs office is 7 ... [Read More]
- 9:27:24, Apr 22nd 2013 - Cabtrom - Blah blah blah, garbage in garbage out! ... [Read More]
- 7:00:49, Apr 11th 2013 - Donald Pierce - Col. Stan Gudmundson hit most of the important nails squarly on the h ... [Read More]
- 12:44:54, Apr 4th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - My compliments to Ms. Hammer for giving us well-crafted "Rachel Rea ... [Read More]
- 5:09:06, Apr 3rd 2013 - truthiness - I see this is dated April 1. That explains it! ... [Read More]
- 12:04:33, Apr 3rd 2013 - Frank W. Hawthorne - Say WHAT?!? Stan's American-Pie [In SKY] is Falling--Not Again? ... [Read More]
- 12:40:21, Mar 29th 2013 - Jacob - It's a shame that so few people care about making their voices heard. If we ... [Read More]
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How will you keep your kids busy this summer vacation?
Garbage bills set to increase to cover waste-to-energy facility
Mon, Dec 31st, 2012
Posted in Government
Posted in Government
Comments
Businesses and residents of Olmsted County will be seeing an increase in their garbage bills beginning on May 1 after the county board of commissioners voted unanimously to increase service fees for haulers in an effort to make the county’s waste-to-energy facility financially solvent.
The move will increase service fees for residential customers by about $3 per month on average, raising to 29 percent from the current 17 percent. Commercial customers will see their service fees increase from 17 percent to fifty percent, while not charging extra for recycling.
The board refused to consider moving the collection method to property or another form of local taxes, stating that county residents were told that the facility would be financially self-sufficient and would not raise taxes. During an open comment period, residents requested that the increase be made a tax so that it could be written off on Federal taxes.
“At this point there is no appetite to make it a tax. That becomes a bottomless pit,” said board chair Ken Brown.
Local hauler Russ Schweiss stated that the cost of the facility has been passed on to his customers indirectly since early on.
“Calling a tax on our invoice a service fee is really a matter of semantics,” Schweiss said, adding that the increase could cause solid waste to leave the county system or end up being improperly disposed of. “The service fee is a tax no matter how you look at it.”
“The current disposal rates are the highest I know of in Minnesota and more than double what is competitive in the marketplace.”
Feeling urgency to resolve the financial situation, the board decided to take action, while a number of other options were being suggested.
“We’re hemorrhaging badly,” said county chief financial officer Robert Bendzick, while advising against further delaying action on the solid waste facility. “The board could consider making a change later on.”
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