Countywide : Dump Plan Calls for Huge Increase in Fees

Landscapers, contractors and others who use the county’s three landfills to deposit small amounts of waste could see their dumping fees more than double under a proposal the Orange County Board of Supervisors will consider next month.

The Integrated Waste Management Department plan would affect people who use cars and small trucks to dump trash and debris. Drivers of cars now pay a flat dumping fee of $5. Truck drivers pay $10. County officials want to increase the charge to $20 for each.

The proposal comes about a month after the Board of Supervisors voted to increase gate fees paid by large trash haulers from $22.75 to $35 per ton.

Cymantha Atkinson, spokeswoman for Integrated Waste Management, said the fee hike is needed to make up for a decline in landfill business and increased regulatory costs. She said the move is not related to the county’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy filing.

Disposal from cars and trucks accounts for about 4% of the revenue generated by the landfills but make up for 37% of daily landfill traffic, Atkinson said.

The proposed fee hike would cover all vehicles that weigh less than 3.5 tons. While full-sized trash trucks are charged a per-ton dumping fee, these smaller “minimum charge vehicles” pay a flat rate.

The flat fees allows landfill operators to save time by not weighing each car and truck when it enters the facilities.

The board is set to consider the latest fee increase proposal Aug. 1.

Supervisor William G. Steiner said he does not support the proposal and called it excessive.