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<br />t\~rlt~~ a decision that, er,stinks
<br />". Y'. He'nnepin board
<br />~+ to;decide who
<br />:: pays ho\^/ much
<br />.fq(.'garbage
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<br />By Steve Brandt.
<br />. Staff Writer
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<br />.. It's an issue that seems to have the
<br />Hennepin County Board tied up in knots,
<br />blitultimatelycommissioners will decide
<br />who pays for garbage and how much.
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<br />They could decide by doing nothing. In tbat
<br />case, the residents and businesses will
<br />continue to pay through their garbage bills a
<br />hidden tax of$95 per ton on what they
<br />throwaway. This four-year-old charge,
<br />called a tipping fee, is expected to provide ."
<br />the county $57 million this year to operate
<br />-:; solid waste programs. The board could also
<br />respond to legal precedents that threaten its
<br />rights over garbage in the county. In that.:
<br />case, it would be forced to cut the tipping
<br />, fee and perhaps cut garbage programs,. .
<br />impose a different fee, or both. One .
<br />commissioner is pushing for homeowners
<br />to pick up a greater share of the bill..
<br />
<br />How to pay for garbage programs is an issue
<br />for other metro counties, too. The debate is .
<br />prompted by several lawsuits, including a
<br />key one arising in southern Minnesota, that
<br />struck down state and local laws designed to
<br />keep garbage in local jurisdictions. That
<br />could play havoc in Hennepin, Ramsey, .
<br />Washington, Anoka and other Minnesota
<br />counties that have such ordinances. They
<br />allow counties to direct garbage to the
<br />incinerators, compost operations and other
<br />plants they built when the state directed
<br />that landfills be avoided.
<br />
<br />Withoutlhis legal power, haulers could
<br />decide that the risk of dumping their loads
<br />)n potentially leaky landfills at tipping fees
<br />". i: closer to $40 per ton makes business sense.
<br />: .,:~ That would leave the counties without
<br />. money to pay developers and investors as
<br />. promised for such facilities as the
<br />downtown Minneapolis incinerator and
<br />plants operated by Northern States Power
<br />, Co. in Elk River and Newport. None of the
<br />..::.;.."metro counties reports detecting such a loss..
<br />. , of garbage, but some commissioners worry
<br />that it may be too late to act once such a
<br />movement is detected.
<br />
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<br />"Vou don't want to be in the position ofthe
<br />commissioners fiddling while [the
<br />incinerator) has nothing to burn,"
<br />Hennepin County Commissioner Randy
<br />Johnson told his board recentlv. "The
<br />longer you wait, the fewer options we will
<br />have and the worse they will be." He's at
<br />one end of the debate, urging the county to
<br />pass ordinances that will put .the county on '
<br />safer footing. The county staff has proposed
<br />cutting the tipping fee to $60 per ton.
<br />
<br />"The trick is to lower the tipping fee just
<br />. low enough to where the haulers don't blow
<br />town," one commissioner said.
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<br />The tipping fee, a charge of $95 a ton that garbage haulers
<br />must pay Hennepin County, is expected to provide $57
<br />million this year to operate solid waste programs. The cost is
<br />. passed on to homeowners in their garbage collection bills.
<br />
<br />But the proposed cut takes $36 million from
<br />the county's solid waste fund, which has
<br />only about $5 million from other income. It
<br />will need about $415 million this year to
<br />pay for hauling garbage to the Elk River and
<br />Minneapolis plants and processing it there.
<br />Moreover, the county has budgeted another
<br />$13 million for other waste programs that
<br />subsidize recycling, composting and
<br />household hazardous waste programs, and
<br />$4.4 million for overhead..
<br />
<br />This leaves the county a choice between
<br />cutting these programs or imposing new
<br />charges to raise the money. It's been looking
<br />
<br />"Y ou don't want to be . . .
<br />fiddling while [the incinerator]
<br />has nothing to burn."
<br />Hennepin Commissioner Randy
<br />Johnson, who fears lower tipping'
<br />fees elsewhere could cause garbage
<br />and fees to leave the county.
<br />
<br />\
<br />at both. For example, there's been open
<br />discussion of axing the $6.7 million the
<br />county gives cities to pay most of the cost of
<br />their recycling programs.
<br />
<br />The staff also has proposed levying new fees
<br />on homes and businesses. Under one
<br />recommendation, each homeowner would.
<br />pay a flat $18 fee with property taxes, and
<br />businesses would pay an average of$335.
<br />Johnson says the residential fee should be
<br />higher because businesses now subsidize
<br />some waste programs used only by
<br />residents. There seems to be agreement that
<br />businesses should pay according to how
<br />much garbage they generate.
<br />
<br />Commissioners seem to be backing away
<br />from putting a politically risky new fee on
<br />homesteads. But despite repeated meetings
<br />in the last two months, the crop of
<br />commissioners elected last fall has been
<br />unable to resolve the most complex issue
<br />
<br />they have encountered. The latest staff plan
<br />would impose a surcharge on hauler bills,
<br />much like the sales tax they already collect.
<br />This is attractive to commissioners because
<br />it remains hidden and because they believe
<br />it rewards those who cut the volume of
<br />trash they throw out.
<br />
<br />Some say they're not sure the county should
<br />act before there's evidence that garbage is
<br />leaving. This attitude is fed by reluctance to
<br />begin dismantling a garbage-handling
<br />system that has been praised for being
<br />among the most comprehensive in the
<br />nation. The county sent only 2 percent of
<br />garbage directly to landfills last year.
<br />
<br />But Hennepin is most vulnerable to losing
<br />haulers because its tipping fee of$95 per
<br />ton is the highest in the metro area. Anoka
<br />County charges $77 per ton. Washington
<br />and Ramsey counties charge $66.79 per ton
<br />for the Newport plant. Washington also
<br />charges $27 per improved property on
<br />property tax bills for other waste programs,
<br />and Ramsey has a charge of $17.53 per
<br />household and varying levels for businesses. ,,,
<br />"There was not a large outcry," said Zack
<br />Hansen, a Ramsey County official whoi~:":
<br />worked in Washington County when its fee "
<br />was imposed. "People realized it was going,;.
<br />to cost a little more to pay for the ~';
<br />environment." . ,~~:..
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<br />Meanwhile, haulers generally say they'll
<br />keep delivering their loads locally as long as .
<br />their competitors do. Browning Ferris
<br />Industries, a national company that delivers
<br />27 percent of Hennepin's garbage, thinks
<br />the county needs to lower its fee to $40 to
<br />$50 per ton to keep the firm's business. Its
<br />biggest competitor, Waste Management,
<br />will keep delivering unless "there was a
<br />mass movement of waste and we started
<br />losing customers," spokeswoman Deb
<br />Osgood said.
<br />
<br />Deliberations are complicated by the move
<br />of the second-biggest hauler in the county,
<br />Minneapolis, to seek proposals for out-of-
<br />state landfill disposal as a means of
<br />relieving city budget problems.
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