SWAG agenda 012915 - Laserfiche WebLink

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14 Several findings from the review are worth highlighting: • All but one county(Jackson) charged a flat fee to those who were eligible for the fee, program and service, • Most counties charged a fee to residential units only and therefore available solid waste programs and services are used only by the residential units, • A few counties charged solid waste program fees to small commercial users though the criteria for including small commercial units were not strict or detailed likely causing unevenness in application, • Some included fees for only rural residential units — those outside municipal boundaries, while others were County -wide fees allowing any residential property to use the specified solid waste program or service. • Annual fees ranged from a low of $15 per residential unit (SWCC availability fee within Mecklenburg County) to a high of $215 per house in Washington County for curbside waste collection, recycling services plus the use of landfill operations. • Terminology for the fees varied from county to county, so there are categories on the spreadsheet where the county billing the fee(s) explicitly called the fee(s) 'availability fee(s)' and others that, based on the fee's descriptions, are grouped in a section of the spreadsheet called "Fees Similar to Availability Fees ". • There was a variety of policies with regard to who is exempted from the annual fee, however most counties seemed to try to minimize exceptions. This fee inquiry provides some perspectives on how other communities charge availability fees or fund solid waste programs without seeming to offer any clear comparison for Orange County. It was observed that other county fees have a distinctive local flavor and none are identical. Also, a lack of thorough understanding of their fees by our various contacts within each county leaves many open questions on specific guidelines or rules or if all or part of the fees cover the solid waste programs or if other funding mechanisms are in place, such as use of the General Fund.. No counties expressed concern with regard to their fees being unlawful or inconsistent with any relevant state laws.