Where landfills are concerned, Siskiyou
County appears to have dug itself into a rather large hole.
The story began many years ago when, due to RICRA legislation, it
became necessary to close the small local dumps that had come into use around the county.
Many of these were on U.S. Forest Service land. Uncovered dumps had been found to cause
pest and health problems. Unlined dumps had been found to leach by-products into ground
water.
The County came up with various strategies to replace the loss of
local dumps. In some areas, like Happy Camp, Tulelake and McCloud, it established a local
transfer station. This is a manned site where individuals and commercial haulers can leave
their garbage. It is then trucked to the Yreka or Medford landfill for disposal. In Salmon
River and Cecilville, the “transfer station” is mobile. It arrives at certain
places and at certain times to receive local garbage. This garbage is then trucked to the
Yreka landfill. In Somes Bar and Tennant, a truck makes individual pick-up stops and then
trucks the garbage to the nearest transfer station.
All of these services are contracted with the County. It is expensive
to operate these small manned stations and haul garbage considerable distances, but the
County has done so in order to provide its residents in remote areas with reasonably
priced service.
The individuals in areas like Scott Valley take their garbage to the
nearest transfer station or landfill. In most of these areas an individual has the option
of contracting with a private commercial hauler for garbage pick-up service. (This is not
a County service.) This garbage is then taken by the hauler to the nearest transfer
station or directly to the Yreka landfill.
Property owners in County areas and in eight cities pay a fee of $63
per parcel on their tax bill for the landfills. (A larger fee is paid by commercial
establishments.) This has not changed since 1986. When operating costs increased due to
environmental requirements and other expenses, the Board of Supervisors decided that, in
addition to the parcel fee, it would be more equitable to initiate gate fees. These were
imposed in 1997. In order to align with County fees, the City of Yreka just recently
raised gate fees on their residents for use of the Yreka landfill. The County has not
raised its gate fees since 1997.
With the parcel tax, (approximately $1,390,000,) and current gate
fees, (about $780,000,) the cost of operating the eight facilities is about $300,000 more
per year than revenue received. In addition, there has been a cost increase of about 25
percent over the past three years. Siskiyou County is now well over $1 million in the
hole.
In the late 1990s, the California Integrated Waste Management Board
filed suit against the city of Yreka and Siskiyou County concerning operations of unlined
cells at the Yreka landfill. A portion of the dramatic increase in expenses has been court
costs involved in this ongoing suit. The landfill is in the process of relicensing. It is
hoped that these costs will begin to taper off.
In the 1990s, Siskiyou County’s Public Works Department brought
to the Board’s attention the need to “pay forward” the costs of closing and
capping remaining landfills, such as Black Butte, McCloud and Yreka. It was decided at
that time that the extended remaining life of the landfills allowed for substantially
deferring the issue into the future. Unfortunately, regulations and operating costs have
pushed that deadline to the present. Loans have been taken out to close these operations.
The final landfill cap on the McCloud landfill has been completed.
The final closure cap on the Black Butte landfill is nearing completion, (cost
$1,024,998.) A new transfer station at the facility should be completed this month.
The Board of Supervisors will be looking at a variety of ways to cut
costs and increase revenue. Transfer station service is being eliminated in McCloud. The
nearby Black Butte station will serve the area. The Board is looking to the elimination of
County subsidized pick-up service in Somes Bar and Tennant. In addition, hours of
operation at the various transfer stations may also be examined.
On the revenue side, increased Gate fees for commercial haulers at
all transfer sites and the landfill are currently under consideration by the Board of
Supervisors, (public hearing December 2.) Proposed fees are less than those charged by
neighboring counties. In order to accommodate differences in compression by various
trucks, fees will move to a per ton basis as calculated utilizing a scale at the larger
facilities. This also fits with the tonnage costs of hauling garbage to the lined dump at Medford.
At this time, there is no proposal to raise the gate fees for cans from the individual
hauler.
It appears that it is time to pay the piper. This is both painful and
unpopular. We cannot look to the General Fund or our reserves to continue to offset the
growing deficit. |
