Minutes 06-06-19 Budget Work Session

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Community Services • Solid Waste—page 390 • Solid Waste Program Fee Incroeae ol$10 hen$132ta$1 A2perperul-($910,B121ncroeaeto$8.67 Milliml TNM Year of B Yee•Planned Phaap4h to$1 Is .May Needta Aeriaap gni,recAmlycie6aectlon S--I Financial Ghangee in Recycling P.g— • Recuntng Capital and Repair Items -Admng.—H.WN Repair-$10,525increese -Vehicle S,ippliesentl Equipmanl Repair-$25.000 increase -Sweeper Alhch— -$9,00O -Mower—A,e Q yard 11. -Se1,OW • Household Hazardous Waste(HHW) -Crceoe 2.0 FTEto Minimize Incrosae In HHW Connect$BB.BB3 -AVeigeen Md*onal$17a,T41 in Ca tNl Expeneee -$77,898Bcttar NetP—.n _Incroeaen cormaalAmoent-$Be,oao ORANGECOUNTY 92 Ni—ii—LINA Commissioner McKee referred to the solid waste program fees, and asked if staff expects the $148 fee to hold. Bonnie Hammersley said staff will do what it can to make this number hold, but when the structural deficit was addressed, the County was bringing in $1 million for recycling revenue. She said, currently, the County is paying $1 million to have recycling removed. She said things have changed with the recycling markets, but staff will try to keep the fee no higher than $148. She said if a change is needed, staff will let the BOCC well in advance. Commissioner McKee said the fee is approaching a large percentage of the total property tax on some of the smaller home properties. Commissioner Dorosin said the County is paying $1 million to have the recycling taken elsewhere, and asked if there are any alternatives. Robert Williams, Solid Waste Director, said that if the County ends the recycling program, it would increase the disposal costs by roughly $1.4 million. He said the County just completed a recycling study, and the problem is to reduce residual trash (which is currently at 12% in recycling). He said staff has identified where the County can partner with businesses and target the removal of glass from the recycling materials. He said a pilot program to separate out glass, exists in some apartment communities, which has been well received. He said the glass will be hauled to the glass recycling facility in Wilson. Commissioner Dorosin asked if part of the costs are due to recycled products not being as valuable to the recycler or because of the residual garbage. Robert Williams said both. He said the residuals have complicated the problems, and companies have started charging additional fees to separate it. He said the County needs to clean up the residuals. Commissioner McKee said getting rid of the program is not an answer, but the County needs to get really innovative about how to approach it, or it will eat the County alive. Robert Williams said the Solid Waste Management Plan is addressing this to meet Orange County's needs. He said staff needs to look into alternative technologies. Commissioner Dorosin said the goal is to get to an actual enterprise fund, but asked if fees are inherently aggressive, is there some other reason why it has to be a self sustaining enterprise fund that is funded through the fees. He asked if increasing taxes is a more equitable way to distribute the cost than increasing the solid waste fee. Travis Myren said there is no legal requirement that it has to be recaptured through fees. He said the program fee is tantamount to a tax. He said an alternative would be for the Board to increase property taxes in order to make the fund work, as there is no requirement that this be an enterprise fund. Bonnie Hammersley said there are fee waivers of$500 available, and the solid waste program has a safety net in the general fund. She said if money is needed, to continue to support the efforts, it should be done on the back end, and not on the front end. She said this money helped to fund other efforts in the budget that are needed now, and the solid waste fund