HomeMy WebLinkAboutWebpage FAQPROPOSED FEE INCREASES FOR SOLID WASTE AND YARD DEBRIS DISPOSAL
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Question: Is it true that fees for solid waste disposal are going up?
Answer: They may. Public Works staff met with the Board of County Commissioners on April 17th to
review the financial health of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. The fund balances have been spent
down since 2019 in order to maintain the current fees but additional revenue is needed now to keep up
with the rising costs of operating a 30-year-old facility. Public Works staff will meet with the County
Commissioners again in June to review the proposed fee increases and the County Commissioners may
direct staff to schedule a Public Hearing to get public feedback on the proposed fee revisions.
Question: Why is Public Works proposing to increase the minimum fee?
Answer: As many customers are now experiencing, the wait times at the transfer station have been
increasing. Over the last 3 years, 45% of our customers have been minimum weight customers bringing
less than 120 pounds of material per trip. This high percentage of minimum fee customers is causing
longer wait times for everyone, including the many businesses like building contractors who lose
productivity waiting in long lines.
Question: Why not just build another lane or two of road into the facility to deal with the traffic?
Answer: We will, and more. Most modern solid waste facilities have separate entrances and exits for
different customer types. These facilities separate commercial from self-haul customers and solid waste
from recycling customers. Many also don’t offer yard debris drop off or limit drop off to just one day
per week. The current transfer station doesn’t allow for that due to site constraints and that’s why
Public Works is working with a consultant and a Solid Waste Facility Task Force made up of citizen and
industry representatives to deliver a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners at the end
of this year. On how to address our growing pains. The recommendation will include what services the
facility should provide, where it should be located, and how we will pay for it. Making costly
improvements to the current facility like new roads before we know what a long-term fix looks like
would be a poor use of our customer’s investment.
Question: Is it true that Public Works is proposing to double the minimum fee?
Answer: Yes. The minimum fee of $10 has been the same for almost 10 years. Public Works has
proposed to increase it to $20. That would still be less than half of what Kitsap County is charging and
less than the average of the other regional solid waste programs that we use to compare our level of
service with, which includes King County and Seattle.
Question: Why do we pay so much for solid waste services?
Answer: An apples to apples comparison of fees charged at solid waste facilities around the state or
regionally is impossible to make because of so many variables like population (efficiency of scale),
distance to rail service, whether a county has an open landfill, and what other programs the tipping fees
pay for. A service level comparison provides a more even picture and when we compared our solid
waste program to King County and Seattle last year we found that we deliver as good or better a
program as measured by the types of materials collected and drive time between drop off locations.
Question: How can I make my opinion heard?
Answer: Send an email to the Board of County Commissioners at jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us or attend
a Monday morning County Commissioners meeting and lend your thoughts during the public comment
period.