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Minutes - Regular Meeting <br /> Solid Waste Advisory Board <br /> January 9, 2003 <br /> Approved February 13, 2003 <br /> Sassaman notes that if there ' s a tax component in the financing mechanism, some of <br /> the costs to this sector would be captured by the property tax they pay . <br /> Hughes notes that everyone pays something they all get some benefits and services , <br /> with most local governments it is tough to do fee changes . Therefore you would set <br /> a fee a little higher the first year with the ideal that it will level out, that' s shown in <br /> scenario 4 . This whole scenario depends on them banking some of the excess [that <br /> would be collected from averaging the fee and it therefore being higher in the earlier <br /> years] <br /> Vickers asks " Isn ' t it 16 % required reserve ? " <br /> The minimum [reserve] is 8 % of the general fund revenues, 16 % is especially for <br /> something that is prone to disasters and heavy equipment, would be a two-month <br /> balance . We show a 12 % reserve in this model . <br /> Gist states that when talking about relatively low fees, the preference would be to go <br /> with what will bring us to the 16 % [reserve] fast because within the next 5 years you <br /> may not be able to get it. Going to straight fee is simpler because if you start talking <br /> ill think it' s a whole lot more than it actually is . <br /> about a tax people w <br /> Hughes states that what' s most common with solid waste enterprise funds that <br /> don' t cover their cost with fees is a transfer over from the general fund which should <br /> be a percent tax voted on with [the understanding that] ' so many cents of the tax <br /> goes to solid waste ' . The second most common, which I would recommend, would <br /> be if you were going to rely on general fund for shortfalls to reflect that as a certain <br /> percent . Another option is to create a service district and set an assessment tax <br /> separated from property tax . The advantage is that it is a separate revenue source <br /> that wouldr t be whittled away every year . The model gives you the amount and <br /> you decide how to look at it . <br /> Visser states that looking at the statute that covers service districts theoretically, it <br /> states that service districts are generally conceived of as being less than the entire <br /> county because there is a differentiation of level of service provided . <br /> Sassaman states that the numbers on page 6 [of the handout] assume a uniform tax <br /> rate across the county . <br /> 5 <br />