HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.22.26 SWAC Memo1
MEMORANDUM
To: Solid Waste Advisory Committee
From: Al Cairns, Solid Waste Program Manager
Cc: Justin Miskell, Solid Waste Operations Manager
Date: October 14, 2026
Subject: Recommended Solid Waste Division Fee Revisions
Issue:
At the August 27, 2026 Special Meeting of SWAC, staff presented information about the
persistent transfer station congestion and capacity issues and possible actions were discussed.
These issues were reviewed again at a tour of the transfer station on September 15, 2026.
Since then, and as part of the 2027 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund budget development, staff has
determined the following:
• The annual 2.5% increase to the per ton tipping fee charged for municipal solid waste
(MSW) disposal at the Jefferson County transfer station is inadequate to maintain the
benchmark cash reserve fund balance
• The current minimum tipping fee for MSW disposal charged at the transfer station is too
low to encourage curbside service and reduce transfer station congestion issues
• The low income discount program for transfer station customers works in opposition of
efforts to reduce small load customer transactions and is prone to abuse
• An adjustment to the 32 gallon can fee charged at the Quilcene Rural Drop Box is
necessary to reduce the level of subsidy from the transfer station tipping fee
SWAC members are asked to review the below analysis and staff- recommended actions and
come to the October 22 meeting informed. Staff will meet with the Board of County
Commissioners in early November to review these issues and recommendations and will share
with the County Commissioners the level of support or disagreement SWAC members expressed
for the recommendations.
Analysis:
Solid Waste Enterprise Fund Budget
As a pure Enterprise Fund the County’s
solid waste program is self-funded through
fees charged for MSW disposal with less
than 1% of revenue from grants. It is a
financial island independent of the County’s
other funds and funding sources, operating
as a triple bottom line business.
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Long term (10 year) financial modeling shows that failing to increase the fee adequately in a given
year has a compounding effect several years later leading to large deficits with inadequate buffer
reserves.
Resolution No. 28 23 was adopted on July 3, 2023 and established a benchmark for cash reserves
of 25% of the following year’s projected operating expenditures and a benchmark for capital
reserves of 25% of transfer station facility replacement costs. Resolution No. 28 23 also set the
per ton rate for transfer station garbage disposal on a 2.5% annual increase until both benchmark
fund balances were achieved.
Resolution No. 30-0512-25R was adopted on May 12, 2025 and addressed the gap in funding for
long-deferred transfer station capital repair and replacement needs. Resolution No. 30-0512-25R
increased the per ton tipping fee by $15.00 and established dedicated funding for capital repair and
replacement.
The dedicated funding for capital repair and replacement is adequate for relatively small capital
repairs and equipment replacement and to improve eligibility for grants and loans from the Public
Works Board. However, a 10 year budget forecast shows that the 2.5% annual increase to the per
ton tipping fee leads to compounding deficit spending of cash reserves with limited or no cash
balance buffer. The draft 2027 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund Budget uses a 5% increase to the per
ton tipping fee to meet benchmark cash reserves.
Transfer Station Congestion and Capacity
A note on nomenclature: “Congestion” is used as shorthand for the movement of customer
vehicles through the transfer station and “capacity” is used as shorthand for the ability to process
solid waste for transport to the regional landfill. There is a push and pull relationship between
these two stresses on transfer station operation.
Congestion
As seen in the graphs below, in the first 8 months of 2026, transfer station self-haul customers
with loads of less than 220 pounds of garbage accounted for 46% of all transactions and
delivered 7% of total tonnages (revenue).
Over the 62 days of self-haul customer service in June, July, and August of this year, 24,410
transactions were processed at the customer scales which is a daily average of 407 customer
transactions or one every 80 seconds. The high level of service demand from self-haul customer
results in vehicle bottle necks, long customer waiting times, and an increase in complaints from
business waste customers, particularly the construction trades.
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Congestion issues have been made more acute with the catastrophic failure of the stationary
knuckle boom crane used for compacting garbage into chassis-mounted containers. The crane
has been replaced with a mobile waste handler that now occupies customer space on the tipping
floor during a majority of operational hours.
Capacity
The transfer station began operations in 1993 with a facility design capacity of a daily average
of 55 tons of MSW. In 2025 the daily average was 86 tons of MSW or 56% over design
capacity. In August, 2026, at peak seasonal demand, the daily average was 101 tons of MSW
and additional containers were requested from the longhaul/disposal contractor to buffer
capacity.
Push and Pull
The mobile waste handler has increased overall material processing capacity by being both more
efficient at compacting materials and saving staff time elsewhere in the operation. The push and
pull between congestion and capacity is seen in the gains made in overall capacity with more
efficient equipment causing an increase in congestion owing to the loss of tipping floor space.
Lower customer counts would resolve this conflict.
Low Income Discount
Resolution No. 31 32 was adopted on August 7, 2023 and created a low-income discount for
self-haul customers at the transfer station and Quilcene Rural Drop Box. The program was
modeled after King County’s program which is the only other such program in Washington.
The program adds to transfer station congestion since it is applied to minimum fee customers and
staff have observed frequent abuse of the program with qualifying customers making frequent
trips as passengers in other vehicles.
Resolution No. 48-0928-26R was adopted on September 29, 2026 amending the 2016 Solid
Waste Management Plan to include a low income discount within the Washington Utilities and
Transportation Commission (UTC) tariff for curbside MSW and recycling collection service.
The Department of Ecology approved the SWMP revisions on October 8, 2026.
The UTC is expected to adopt the new rate by January 1, 2027 and which offers a substitute for
the low income discount offered at the solid waste facilities.
Quilcene Rural Drop Box
Rural drop box facilities are provided by Cities and Counties as a convenience to rural
communities. These facilities typically charge a higher fee than transfer stations on a per pound
basis but are not financially self-supporting, requiring a subsidy from tipping fees at transfer
stations.
As seen in the below graph of Quilcene Rural Drop Box (QRDB) transactions in the first 8
months of 2026, 90.37% were for a single 32 gallon can and 7.6% were for an additional 32
gallon can. Anecdotally, many QRDB customers are seasonal residents who are unaware that
curbside service can be ordered for part of the year.
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Fiscal Impact:
Solid Waste Enterprise Fund Budget
Two rate increase scenarios are shown in the graphs below with black indicating a year where
the beginning cash balance meets the benchmark and red indicating a year of starting fund
balance below the benchmark with the amount of deficit shown in parenthesis.
Transfer Station Congestion and Capacity
The large majority of small load self-haul customers could choose curbside service and reduce
the demands on the aging and overburdened transfer station. Incentivizing curbside service can
be done with facility siting; economic incentive through the minimum fee; and possibly by
limiting self-haul customer access to the transfer station. Staff has found that adjusting the
minimum fee adequately to influence customer choice is the only feasible option at this time.
Low Income Discount
In the first 8 months of 2026, 4,754 MSW customers at the transfer station and 158 customers at
the QRDB received the discount for a total revenue loss of $49,110.00. The projected annual loss
in 2026 of $74,000.00 is consistent with the loss in 2025 suggesting a plateauing of program
participation.
5%10%10%5%5%5%5%5%5%5%10%8%8%5%5%5%5%5%5%5%
2027 2027
2028 2028
2029 2029
2030 2030
2031 2031
2032 2032
2033 2033
2034 2034
2035 2035
2036 2036
SCENARIO #2: 26% INCREASE OVER 3 YEARS; PROJECTED
FUND SHORTFALL OF $44,456 OVER 10 YEARS
YEAR PER TON RATE INCREASE
($11,572)
($32,884)
YEAR PER TON RATE INCREASE
($20,833)
($65,496)
($25,814)
SCENARIO #1: 25% INCREASE OVER 3 YEARS; PROJECTED
FUND SHORTFALL OF $112,143 OVER 10 YEARS
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Quilcene Rural Drop Box
The Quilcene Rural Drop Box (QRDB) required a subsidy from the transfer station tipping fee of
$53,342 in 2024, $52,766 in 2025, and $32,279 in the first 8 months of 2026.
Full cost recovery for facility operations from January 1 through August 31, 2026 would have
required a $16.78 transaction fee per customer if operational costs were applied equally to all
customers. QRDB single can customers are currently receiving a 40% subsidy from transfer
station customers.
The two garbage compactors at the QRDB were replaced in 2015 and are scheduled for
replacement in 3 years at an estimated cost range of between $105,000.00 and $129,000.00.
Reducing the use of these units by encouraging curbside service (private sector mobile
compactors) would extend their lifetime and reduce overall solid waste program capital costs and
the rate of subsidy for the QRDB by transfer station customers.
Shifting more of the QRDB tonnages to curbside collection would gain capacity and reduce
congestion at the transfer station operation because more pre-compacted heavy loads would be
delivered to the tipping floor making it faster to load containers to the contract-mandated 26 tons.
Recommended Actions:
The below actions will be recommended to the Board of County Commissioners at a workshop
in early November. Note that the first action, a 5% increase to the per ton rate charged at the
transfer station, is by necessity in the 2027 budget submitted to the BoCC and County
Administrator.
1. A 5% per ton tipping fee increase in the 2027 budget
2. Adjust the transfer station minimum fee to $35.00 to be slightly higher than the subscription
rate for mid-level curbside service
3. Upon adoption of the low income discount for curbside service within the UTC tariff,
discontinue the low-income discount program at solid waste facilities
4. Discontinue the $10.00 single 32 gallon can fee at the Quilcene Rural Drop Box and replace
it with a $20.00 fee for up to two 32 gallon cans