By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

A senior citizen questioned Levy County Commissioners Tuesday on why she had to pay a $116 residential landfill assessment fee on her property tax bill when she already pays Waste Pro to pick up her garbage.

Margaret Halada, who lives in Levy County closer to Alachua County Landfill than the Levy County Landfill east of Bronson, said she can’t afford to be double billed for her garbage.

“I pay Waste Pro to come and pick up my trash because I’m old and I don’t feel like going to the dump and dealing with all that and now you’re charging me $116 a year for what,” Halada said. “I don’t use the Levy County dump. I am over here off State Road 24. I’m actually closer to Alachua County, which only charges $60 to use their dump. I don’t want to use anyone’s dump. I want my own garbage picked up curbside.”

Commissioners told Margaret Halada the fee pays for landfill operations and is aimed at increasing revenues to ensure the facility can pay its bills.

Commission Chairman John Meeks corrected Halada.

“Ms. Margaret, you do use somebody’s dump, because that trash doesn’t just go there and disappear. What the $116 does is it operates the landfill. It allows us to dispose of the garbage,” Meeks said.

He said Levy County garbage is transferred by truck to the New River Regional Landfill in Union County similar to Alachua County. Meeks continued by giving what has become the county’s standard answer to justify the $116 fee. The landfill assessment charge appeared on property tax bills for the first time in November. It is technically not a property tax because there is no millage rate assessed, but the fee does appear on property tax bills.

“So the $116 doesn’t cover getting your garbage from the curb to the transfer station or the dump, whatever you want to call it, it covers the cost once it goes over the scales,” (at the landfill), Meeks said. “We had to do something to keep from continuing to take the money out of ad valorem (property taxes) and the board decided to implement an assessment that all of the property owners with improved property would pay, so everyone pays a little of it. I understand it’s a burden on everybody, but something needed to be done. We were operating at a deficit at the landfill.”

“Well, so is my budget,” Halada responded.

Halada said she pays $62 every three months to Waste Pro or about $20.60 per month. Her $116 yearly bill from the county amounts to $9.60 per month.

“I mean I’m paying $30 and all and I have two bags a week, and then everybody on Facebook says their dumping trash in everybody’s yard. Thank goodness we don’t have that problem. That was my concern and a lot of other seniors – that we are paying twice.”

Meeks responded that the county is working on establishing satellite dumping stations to help people like Halada that don’t live close to the Levy County Landfill. He said it is possible down the road that the board may consider waivers for people who can’t afford to pay the fees.

“There are a lot of decisions still to be made. This is a work in progress, but it was an important road we had to travel and to make the county more solvent,” he said.

Commissioner Mike Joyner told Halada that tipping fees have been eliminated for residential garbage at the Levy County Landfill. He said she could drive to the landfill with her garbage and deposit it free of charge. Tipping fees had previously been charged to residents that delivered their garbage to the landfill in their personal vehicles, but those fees have been dropped.

Halada told Joyner she is a senior citizen and doesn’t want to drive to the landfill every week with two bags of garbage. Halada said a lot of her neighbors feel the same way she does. She thought they were coming with her to the meeting, but they didn’t show.

Commissioner Matt Brooks said there would be a chance for public participation later.

The county has temporarily suspended efforts to look for satellite dumping stations while it deals with the proposed licensing ordinance for commercial waste haulers, according to Rod Hastings, administrative director of the landfill. The licensing ordinance is the next step in the county’s new program for collecting solid waste. A public hearing has not been set for the licensing ordinance but the county says it would like to hold the hearing sometime between the first week of December and the first of January.

Under the licensing ordinance, commercial waste haulers would be required to carry liability insurance and they would also be mandated to carry all their waste to the Levy County Landfill. The county says it is not trying to squeeze out small haulers by placing expensive insurance requirements on them.

When the licensing ordinance is adopted it serves as notice that the county commission could switch in three years to a franchising system for rural waste haulers. Franchising would require haulers to bid for the right to haul waste in certain zones or the county. The county commission would have the option of awarding the entire unincorporated area of the county to one commercial hauler. The unincorporated area, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the area outside municipalities.

Board of County Commission Regular Meeting November 6, 2018

Posted November 8, 2018