Agenda - 04-29-2003-7d - Laserfiche WebLink

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The SWAB supports the prepaid comprehensive service fee as it most closely matches the overall set of guiding principles endorsed over the past year including: • Endorsement of the Solid Waste Reduction Plan goals and framework, • Capturing revenues from non - profit properties, as they too generate solid waste, • Using the existing tax collection system to collect solid waste revenues, • Leveling fees or taxes to prevent yearly fluctuations, • Creating equity among classes of system users such that revenues collected reflect services received, • Requiring property owners, rather than occupants to pay the fee or tax, • Creation of dedicated and restricted reserve funds for equipment and landfill closure are prudent policy, • Maintaining a healthy fund balance of a minimum of 12% of the annual budget, • Viewing the fund and the operation as an integrated whole, rather than disparate parts to be completely separated functionally and fiscally. The SWAB recognizes that there are significant legal issues to be resolved before such a fee could be considered. Even if it is deemed legal for Orange County to enact the fee, there would be significant technical and political work involved in implementing such a fee that would likely take the same two years it took elsewhere. Consequently, the SWAB recommends that the Board and Manager develop a bridge financing mechanism to get the Solid Waste Management Department through the next two years while the permanent financial plan is being developed. The SWAB discussed in detail the use of availability fees to fund parts of the budget that provide specific services to specific sectors such as weekly curbside recycling in the incorporated areas or biweekly curbside in unincorporated areas. District taxes were considered, as was a general property tax increase earmarked for solid waste. A combination of those fees and taxes was also reviewed. The SWAB ruled out sending a bill to each local government for services rendered and allowing them to find a payment method of their choosing or direct payment by each government for services received. Also deliberated and eliminated were voluntary user fees for non - landfill services such as recycling or hazardous waste collections. It is economically impractical to continue to raise landfill tipping fees and assume the revenue will follow as eventually all privately controlled waste will find it advantageous to leave. The bridge financing mechanism should not be so small as to leave the Department in a fiscal hole from which it will have to dig itself out using the subsequently selected permanent financing mechanism. There will be still be landfill income that will partly support operations in combination with this proposed bridge financing mechanism, but that will not be enough. In addition the SWAB believes the bridge financing mechanism should, to the extent practicable meet the guiding principles. There appear to be three basic financing options from which a hybrid involving any combination of the three could be used to supplement current sources of Departmental income between FY 2003 -04 and when the permanent financing mechanism is adopted. Those include: 1. A property tax increase where the Board of Orange County Commissioners earmarked a certain portion of the general tax revenues for solid waste management for a year. Fq -3