Solid Waste District’s budget approved by council and tax levy heads for the ballot
Published 3:14 pm Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Last week, organizers of the Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District, which intends to run the Lopez transfer station put the finishing touches on both a budget and a proposed tax package, responding to intense questions from the county council. Their proposal was reviewed by the council on July 24 and the county council approved the 2013 operating budget for the Lopez station and approved the request of the Lopez Solid Waste District to put the proposal of a 9.5 cents per 1,000 property tax levy on the ballot in November. If approved, the increase would raise $100,000 of the total $414,577 budget.
“We’re very confident that the budget and tax proposal is solid,” said Larry Eppenbach, Lopez district board member. “We’ve done this right. We asked the people of Lopez to trust us, and we know we have to continue building that trust.”
– Steve Wehrly, reporter for the Journal
Background on Lopez’s solid waste
In May, more than 1,200 Lopezians signed a petition asking the council to create a district to take over operation of the Lopez dump and recycling center. Council Chairwoman Patty Miller asked for signatures of 550 registered voters as a “show of support” that Lopez property owners would be willing to help finance the district with property taxes. The petition-signers pledged to vote for an estimated $.08 per $1,000 of valuation property tax measure in November.
Miller said the district will only work if the property tax measure is passed because otherwise there is not enough revenue to keep the transfer station running.
“If people are charged too much for garbage, they won’t utilize it,” she said.
According to Larry Eppenbach, district secretary, the district’s advisory board nominees told the council that failure is not an option.
“We are not directing any significant energy to this ‘what if?’ However, the community of Lopez has worked toward this goal for 20 years and we will not give up,” he said. “We told the council that we would certainly be back responding to their RFP [request for proposal] with a modified service plan should the ballot measure not succeed.”
If the district is successful, Eppenbach said the biggest change for Lopez regarding solid waste will be local control. There will be a suggestion box, and the district will be inviting ideas and inputs from locals. The recycling service will revert to a free source-separated operation and will produce the highest return value. The district plans to expand recycling services over time. For a small fee, there will be an option to dispose of recyclables in commingled form.
Other big changes will come in cost savings. The district is working to find an inexpensive means to dispose of waste glass, which because of its weight is costly to transport. The recycling center “Take-It-Or-Leave-It” will be improved with volunteers organized by the district.
– Cali Bagby, Weekly editor
