Agenda - 05-08-2014 - 7f - Laserfiche WebLink

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53 The Board of Commissioners received a recommendation from the County Manager and the County Attorney that recent actions by the legislature and courts raised questions as to the County's legal authority in imposing the Rural 3 -11 Fee and that the Board should consider eliminating that Fee. The Board responded to that recommendation. 29. Is it true that Catawba County leads the state in recycling? I thought Orange County was the state's leader? The State of North Carolina General Statutes requires measurement of the rate of waste landfilled per person in each county annually and there is a statewide goal of 40% waste reduction that was to have been achieved by 2001. It was 12% statewide last year. That rate of landfilling per person is then compared to an established base year of 1991 -92 and the difference is that County's waste reduction rate. By this statutorily required metric, Orange County led the State of North Carolina with a 58% waste reduction rate in FY 2012 -13. Orange County also had the highest waste reduction rate for the preceding four years. For comparison, Catawba County's waste reduction rate was 27% in FY 2012/13. Catawba County had the State's highest rate of recycling per person in FY 12 -13 as calculated separately by the NC DENR Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service from annual local government reports. Orange County was sixth last year by that measure and has generally been in the top ten since the metric was established. That metric was independently established by the NC DENR Division of Environmental Assistance and Outreach in the early 2000s as an alternative means of evaluating progress in Solid Waste Management. It is also believed that this alternative "unofficial" means of presenting recycling was developed due to the overall poor progress state -wide with regard to waste reduction per capita performance and that this alternative method would shed a more positive light on state performance. It is not statutorily required but measures recycling progress County by County. In Counties with large industrial and commercial recycling programs that are connected to local government operations the recycling per person may be reported as higher than those with less industry. E.g. UNC Chapel Hill reports its 4,400 tons of recycling separately from Orange County. In the original omnibus State Solid Waste Bill in 1989, the State did establish recycling goals at rates of 25% and 40% but in 1991 revised that metric to be a waste reduction rate. The rationale for using a waste reduction measure is that it is calculated by the State, independently from what is reported by each County as recycled in its programs. Further, the waste reduction rate more holistically reflects the means other than recycling of reducing waste such as backyard composting, 'smart shopping', encouragement of reuse and repair as alternatives to disposal. 30. What is fair about having people who don't use the curbside recycling service having to pay for it? Those that use it should pay for it. There are many government services, if not most, whose use by any specific taxpayer and that taxpayer's financial contribution are not proportional. Not all taxpayers use the public library, but all contribute to its funding. In Orange County not all tax payers use convenience centers but all taxpayers (including municipal residents) contribute to its funding, including those non- residential property owners who are prohibited from using it. The question of fairness with regard to public funding and utilization of service is inherent in government services and benefits. It is the nature of public funding and a matter of perception. 11