Time to sort out tipping fees

It's time for a conversation.

There's always been something paradoxical about the funding mechanism for the Jay County Solid Waste District.

Fees charged for dumping trash into the Jay County Landfill go to support recycling efforts aimed at reducing the volume of trash going into the landfill.

It's similar to efforts to reduce smoking that are funded by a tax on cigarettes. If the efforts are truly successful, they'll dry up the revenue stream that has funded them.

By the same token, if funding for the district's recycling effort disappears, it will mean more stuff going to the landfill and more revenue for the district.

Maintaining some sort of equilibrium is a real challenge.

It's also a challenge to maintain equilibrium with tipping fees at the landfill.

Set them higher, and the district will get more revenue per ton. But set them too high, and you discourage people from taking trash to the landfill in the first place.

Tipping fees that are too high can actually lead people to dump trash in side ditches or bury it on the back forty.

Waste district officials have been struggling with these issues for the past few months.

But one essential party - Waste Management, the company that owns and operates the landfill - hasn't been at the table.

There's plenty to talk about. Is the volume at the Jay County Landfill down because of decisions to send trash elsewhere? What are competitive tipping fees that mutually benefit Waste Management and the waste district? How do we make this a win-win situation rather than a zero-sum game?

Those are complicated questions. If answers are to be found, it will be necessary to initiate a discussion.

It's time to pick up the phone. The time for talking to ourselves is over. It's time for a conversation. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]