Landfill drops now charged by weight
By Tom Saul
A change in the way the Scott County landfill charges to dump garbage and trash is not expected to result in higher fees for most users, but that may change next year.
Instead of charging based on the volume of garbage dumped, the landfill will now charge based on weight, said Kathy Morris, director of the facility for the Waste Commission of Scott County.
“We pay state taxes based on tonnage but we are the only landfill left in the state that still charges based on volume,” Morris said. “We keep records based on tonnage and we thought it would be a good idea and more accurate to drop the volume fee and charge strictly by weight.”
Trucks are weighed as they come to the landfill off County Road Y-48 north of Buffalo to dispose of their loads. But, before July, instead of having their dumping fees based on that weigh-in, fees were based on the volume of garbage and trash the trucks were capable of carrying.
Some of the landfill’s biggest customers said they applaud the change. They also keep records based on weight but, because of the way they are charged for dumping, they also keep records based on volume.
“The change to tonnage versus cubic yards will be a lot more accurate and we will have a much better idea of what we are being charged for,” said Michelle Javornik, Bettendorf’s deputy public works director. “It will make our record keeping easier.”
If the change results in higher dumping fees to the city, they probably won’t be much, Javornik said. She said she will have a better idea of whether there will be additional cost once the new fee structure has been in use for a few months.
Bettendorf dumped 19,500 cubic yards of household garbage during its past fiscal year and paid fees of $165,000, Javornik said. It also dumped bulky waste, such as furniture and other items that are weighed in tons, and paid an additional $45,000.
Davenport dumped a total of 23,745 tons of garbage and bulky waste last fiscal year and paid total fees of $877,000, said Tom Bylund, city superintendent of solid waste. He also said he did not expect city fees to dump to increase by much, if at all.
The new fee structure was adopted based on generating the same amount of income as under the volume based system, Morris said. About 90 percent of landfill customers should not expect higher fees.
While she is not characterizing the switch to weight-based fees as a rate hike, Morris said, she expects to ask for a rate hike next year to offset higher costs for running the landfill.
“We wanted to be fair and not force a rate increase on our customers this year, but we haven’t had a rate hike since 1996 and I’m projecting one for next year,” she said.
By the pound
New fees for dumping at the Scott County landfill will be based on the weight of garbage and trash disposed of instead of by volume. The following fee schedule replaces one that charged $8.25 per cubic yard.
Garbage — $24 a ton
Construction and demolition debris — $25 a ton
Loads weighing less than 2,000 pounds:
Less than one regular garbage can — $8
All other vehicle loads — $25
Appliances — $5 each
Appliances with ammonia units — $30 each
Out-of-county ammonia units — $50 each
Tires
Scott County residents — no charge for first five car tires each year
Business tires — $94.50 per ton
Tom Saul can be contacted at (563)383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.