Orange County NC Website
N <br />centers, education and outreach, enforcement, planning, etc. An Urban Curbside Fee <br />$52/ ear is assessed to improved residential properties within incorporated municipalities and <br />funds weekly curbside recycling service. A Rural Curbside Fee ($38 /year) is charged to <br />residential property in areas of unincorporated Orange County eligible to receive bi- weekly <br />curbside recycling service. Finally, a Multi- family Fee ($19 /year) is charged multi - family units <br />throughout Orange County for multi - family recycling services. See the Attachment 4, Solid <br />Waste Recycling Division Schedule of Revenues and Expenses for Fiscal 2011/2012. <br />Not related to recycling, the County also assesses a county -wide Solid Waste Convenience <br />Center Fee that is billed in conjunction with the annual property tax. The Unincorporated Areas <br />Fee is ($20 /year /Household), Incorporated Areas Fee is ($10 /year /Household), and Multi- family <br />Fee is ($2 /year /multi - family unit). This basic Solid Waste Convenience Center Fee covers a <br />portion of the operating costs of the County's five (5) Convenience Centers. <br />A recent court decision, Lanvale v Cabarrus County, essentially says that where there is no <br />direct statutory authority to levy a fee, a local government cannot levy a fee. Since the Lanvale <br />opinion was issued, Orange County's staff has been engaged in discussions regarding how, <br />going forward, the County can best address the issues created by this action of the Supreme <br />Court. The Basic Fee is likely consistent with existing law, but the Urban, Rural and Multi- family <br />recycling fees may not be consistent with existing case law. The County Manager will <br />recommend that the Board of County Commissioners cease assessing the Urban, Rural and <br />Multi- family recycling fees beginning with the Fiscal 2013/14 Annual Budget. The County <br />Manager further recommends funding these services for Fiscal 2013/14 only with solid waste <br />enterprise fund reserves to allow the County time to transition to an alternative solution. <br />The Rural Curbside program currently is limited to 13,730 households eligible in the <br />unincorporated area of the County. A rural curbside recycling fee is charged to those <br />households where recycling services are made available. These services are provided by <br />County Staff. Just 6,000 households lack access to rural curbside service at this time and are <br />not charged the Rural Curbside Fee. Waste collections in unincorporated Orange County are <br />provided by private haulers, without a County Franchise Agreement, on a voluntary basis to <br />those using the services. <br />The Urban Curbside recycling fee is charged to Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough <br />municipal residents by the County for urban curbside recycling services. The services are paid <br />for by Orange County Solid Waste under contract with Waste Industries, Inc. and the towns are <br />responsible for household solid waste within their town limits. <br />The Multi- family Fee is charged to each multi - family establishment in both incorporated and <br />unincorporated Orange County based on the number of residential units for collection of <br />recyclable materials at each of these locations. The multi - family recycling services are provided <br />by Orange County Solid Waste staff. <br />North Carolina General Statute 153A -136 (Attachment 1) Regulation of Solid Waste, gives <br />counties the authority to grant a franchise for the exclusive right to collect or dispose of solid <br />waste within all or a defined portion of the county and prohibit others from collecting or <br />disposing of solid wastes in that area. The County is exploring a franchise agreement process <br />for the unincorporated areas of the County which would include the privatization of curbside <br />household solid waste and recycling. The County may by resolution permit a Solid Waste <br />Ordinance to be adopted by the Towns and applicable within the Town limits. The Towns may <br />