Countywide : Sanitation District Challenges New Fee

The Ventura Regional Sanitation District has challenged the county’s right to impose a new fee on landfill users that would be used to pay for studies on a waste recycling facility.

District General Manager Clint Whitney said Tuesday that the district is not collecting the 45-cent-per-ton fee hike on trash haulers at its two landfills. The Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance in August imposing the fee, which was to be passed through to haulers.

The fee increase was designed to raise $195,000 to cover a consultant’s study to determine the best location for recycling facilities in both the west and east counties.

Whitney said the district objects to the fee because it will be used for broader purposes than what is required under law. He said it should be used only for planning purposes, and not for development and implementation of a facility. “That’s properly a county function and has to come from county money,” he said.

Whitney notified county officials in October that the fee would not be collected at its Oxnard and Santa Paula landfills.

Supervisor John Flynn responded in a letter that the fees were legal and appropriate.

“The ball is in their court--we’re not going to pay,” Whitney said.

Kay Martin, director of the county’s Solid Waste Management Department, said the issue has been referred to the county counsel’s office.