By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
A hike in the solid waste fee for city of Hays customers has been postponed for a month.
City commissioners discussed the proposal at their work session Thursday night.
The Solid Waste Division, which performs refuse and recycling collections, compost operations, annual alley cleanup and tree disposal for customers, is funded by fees charged to Hays customers. It is now dipping into its reserve funds.
The $15.20 monthly fee has been in place since 2006.
Jesse Rohr, public works director, explained that expenses have gone up the past 13 years for fuel increases, higher hauling and sorting fees for recyclables, salaries, and higher tipping fees at the Ellis County landfill, up from $68 a ton to $75 a ton last year.
At the same time, revenues from recycling are down “mostly in the funds collected for the sale of paper/cardboard recyclables. Revenues have gone from over $63,000 in 2011 to less than $5,000 in 2018,” Rohr told commissioners.
Building the city’s own waste transfer station was considered, but that “didn’t cost out,” according to Toby Dougherty, city manager.
The city then looked at other contractual options, including a private hauler rather than Ellis County.
The five year contract offer is less than what the county charges, but there are “some potential negatives down the road that have not been fully ferreted out,” Dougherty told the commission.
“We went back to the county and asked them if they could give us a better deal and we haven’t had a formal response at this time.
“I told my counterpart we found a cheaper option but we understand the convenience of location [of the Ellis County Landfill]. Plus, there are other interactions at the landfill aside from the municipal waste. We have the tree limb disposal, we have the other stuff. It’s easier to do it at one spot,” Dougherty acknowledged.
City commissioners are unhappy with Ellis County’s delay. Rohr says his county counterpart has been aware of the city’s negotiation request since April.
“Here’s the problem,” said Mayor Henry Schwaller with a thump on the table.
“The county raised their rate on every taxpayer in this county without any notice last year. The city and every person living here had to bear the burden of that. When asked if they can get something together for us this year, they can’t do it. I’m going to vote for a private hauler.”
The city of Hays is the biggest customer at the Ellis County Landfill and 77% of its solid waste budget goes towards the tipping fees for trash collection.
“If we are no longer their customer, they will collapse,” Schwaller declared.
“I’m starting to feel a little bit held hostage,” said Commissioner Sandy Jacobs, “because of other things they will do for us thinking we won’t go to another source for this piece (municipal waste].”
Hays has the lowest solid waste rate among its peer cities in Kansas. Most cities do not provide an alley clean up or compost site, according to Rohr; Hays does.
To close the gap in the solid waste fund, Rohr, Solid Waste Division Superintendent Marvin Rupp and Finance Director Kim Rupp came up with a five year plan for incremental increases in the solid waste fee, starting with a 15% hike beginning August 1.
Commissioners are concerned about the first big jump on top of water and sewer rates that have increased dramatically the past few years “as they needed to,” said Schwaller.
“People aren’t really looking at what their trash is costing them. What they’re looking at is their final bill. And my bill went from $43 a month to $61 a month. …”So we’re looking at this on top of that.”
Commissioners ultimately agreed to wait 30 days for a response from Ellis County.
They also discussed the possibility of eliminating the collection of plastic products for recycling due to a worldwide reduction in sales of recycled plastics.
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