July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Audit: Landfill overpayed district (5/25/04)
Waste district must repay $27,000 to Waste Management
A bookkeeping mistake made by the Jay County Landfill will mean less money in the bank account of the Jay County Solid Waste District.
Members of the district board were told Monday by the manager of the local landfill that the district has been paid $27,000 more in tipping fees than it was due since beginning operations in July of 2002.
Leon Leach, a district manager for Waste Management, the company that owns and operates the local landfill, said Monday that the mistake was solely Waste Management’s.
“It’s all our fault,” Leach said. He said the error was discovered in a company audit completed in April.
As a follow-up to that announcement, Leach proposed that Waste Management withhold 50 cents of the district’s $1.50 per ton fee until the $27,000 is re-paid. He also said the company would like to discuss permanently lowering the district fee to $1 per ton — a move that Leach said would allow Waste Management to be more competitive in bidding for trash contracts.
In regards to the bookkeeping error, Leach said that a type of alternative daily cover, which is used to cover the trash at the end of each working day, was inadvertently included in the tonnage total when figuring the district fee of $1.50 per ton.
By state law, a fee is not paid to the district on ADC materials.
The mistake included a total of about 18,000 tons over a 23-month period from June of 2002 until this April.
District attorney Brad Burkett, responding to questions from several board members, said the board will have no choice but to re-pay the money.
The district had a checking account balance of approximately $143,000 after approving more than $20,000 in claims on Monday.
Board members tabled action on both the re-payment and reduction in tipping fees, saying they wanted time to think about options.
Leach also tied another proposal to the proposed reduction in the district fee, saying that Waste Management, which owns the home where the district headquarters is located, would sell the home and property for $25,000 if the fee were lowered.
Without a significant increase in volume, lowering the district fee would place the waste district in a mode of deficit spending for at least the remainder of this year.
The district, which has a budget for this year of approximately $230,000, would take in only about $168,708 over the next 12 months at the current average of a little more than 14,000 tons per month.
Leach said that he hoped that a 50 cent reduction in the landfill’s approximate $33 per ton gate rate would translate to a 30 percent increase in business, “but I can’t guarantee it.”
District executive director Kay Hayes lobbied against cutting the district tipping fee.
“Obviously we have reserves ... I’m a little concerned cutting that much (revenue). (Jay County) wants to be re-paid (for expenses in forming the single-county district), and it’s going to cut into programs. It’s not my decision, but eventually it could cut into programs,” Hayes said.
The major program for the district is the Saturday drop-off recycling. The district pays for the hauling costs for the containers and also pays groups that staff the drop-off sites $150 for each Saturday morning worked.
Also Monday, board members denied a request for funding made last month by Bettie Jacobs of the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Jacobs had asked for the district’s help for expanded efforts the JCSWCD is making to prevent soil and other pollutants from reaching Jay County’s waterways.
“I don’t see that as an expenditure for us,” board member Gerald Kirby said. “At some point we have to draw a line.”
The vote on the matter was 4-1 against funding, with Mike Leonhard dissenting.
The board also denied a new request from the Indiana-based A Child’s Wish foundation to help a local terminally-ill child go on a Disney cruise.
Board members did agree to donate a hand-shaped chair made from recycled plastic to the West Jay Optimist Club for its annual auction.
In other business, board members Bill Gibson, Gary Theurer, Milo Miller Jr., Bruce Hosier, Leonhard and Kirby:
•Learned that it will review $58,000 in additional appropriation requests next month. The money includes about $30,000 for a pole building under construction at district headquarters, $20,000 to re-pay Jay County for district formation expenses, and $6,000 for additional expenses for hauling recycling containers provided by Waste Management.
•Heard Hayes report that a client/staff team from Jay-Randolph Developmental Services Inc. will be working part-time doing odd jobs at district headquarters.[[In-content Ad]]
Members of the district board were told Monday by the manager of the local landfill that the district has been paid $27,000 more in tipping fees than it was due since beginning operations in July of 2002.
Leon Leach, a district manager for Waste Management, the company that owns and operates the local landfill, said Monday that the mistake was solely Waste Management’s.
“It’s all our fault,” Leach said. He said the error was discovered in a company audit completed in April.
As a follow-up to that announcement, Leach proposed that Waste Management withhold 50 cents of the district’s $1.50 per ton fee until the $27,000 is re-paid. He also said the company would like to discuss permanently lowering the district fee to $1 per ton — a move that Leach said would allow Waste Management to be more competitive in bidding for trash contracts.
In regards to the bookkeeping error, Leach said that a type of alternative daily cover, which is used to cover the trash at the end of each working day, was inadvertently included in the tonnage total when figuring the district fee of $1.50 per ton.
By state law, a fee is not paid to the district on ADC materials.
The mistake included a total of about 18,000 tons over a 23-month period from June of 2002 until this April.
District attorney Brad Burkett, responding to questions from several board members, said the board will have no choice but to re-pay the money.
The district had a checking account balance of approximately $143,000 after approving more than $20,000 in claims on Monday.
Board members tabled action on both the re-payment and reduction in tipping fees, saying they wanted time to think about options.
Leach also tied another proposal to the proposed reduction in the district fee, saying that Waste Management, which owns the home where the district headquarters is located, would sell the home and property for $25,000 if the fee were lowered.
Without a significant increase in volume, lowering the district fee would place the waste district in a mode of deficit spending for at least the remainder of this year.
The district, which has a budget for this year of approximately $230,000, would take in only about $168,708 over the next 12 months at the current average of a little more than 14,000 tons per month.
Leach said that he hoped that a 50 cent reduction in the landfill’s approximate $33 per ton gate rate would translate to a 30 percent increase in business, “but I can’t guarantee it.”
District executive director Kay Hayes lobbied against cutting the district tipping fee.
“Obviously we have reserves ... I’m a little concerned cutting that much (revenue). (Jay County) wants to be re-paid (for expenses in forming the single-county district), and it’s going to cut into programs. It’s not my decision, but eventually it could cut into programs,” Hayes said.
The major program for the district is the Saturday drop-off recycling. The district pays for the hauling costs for the containers and also pays groups that staff the drop-off sites $150 for each Saturday morning worked.
Also Monday, board members denied a request for funding made last month by Bettie Jacobs of the Jay County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Jacobs had asked for the district’s help for expanded efforts the JCSWCD is making to prevent soil and other pollutants from reaching Jay County’s waterways.
“I don’t see that as an expenditure for us,” board member Gerald Kirby said. “At some point we have to draw a line.”
The vote on the matter was 4-1 against funding, with Mike Leonhard dissenting.
The board also denied a new request from the Indiana-based A Child’s Wish foundation to help a local terminally-ill child go on a Disney cruise.
Board members did agree to donate a hand-shaped chair made from recycled plastic to the West Jay Optimist Club for its annual auction.
In other business, board members Bill Gibson, Gary Theurer, Milo Miller Jr., Bruce Hosier, Leonhard and Kirby:
•Learned that it will review $58,000 in additional appropriation requests next month. The money includes about $30,000 for a pole building under construction at district headquarters, $20,000 to re-pay Jay County for district formation expenses, and $6,000 for additional expenses for hauling recycling containers provided by Waste Management.
•Heard Hayes report that a client/staff team from Jay-Randolph Developmental Services Inc. will be working part-time doing odd jobs at district headquarters.[[In-content Ad]]
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