Two Ulster legislators have recommended
establishing a disposal monopoly for all trash and recyclables generated
within the county. The 16-page proposal
presented Thursday by Ken Wishnick, D-New Paltz, and Carl Belfiglio,
R-Port Ewen, would also transfer garbage oversight to the county
executive.
The county's trash agency has
needed a $1.4 million annual subsidy since 2010. Ballooning payments on
$21.7 million of debt will send the subsidy to $2.5 million starting in
2013. But "flow control" — a requirement that all
waste generated in the county cross the public agency's scales — would
enable the agency to operate without a subsidy by 2015. That's because monopoly power enables the agency to set disposal fees as high as necessary to meet yearly expenses.
Tipping
fees are expected to rise from an average of $87 per ton to $102 per
ton, the proposal said, meaning a typical household would pay $16.83
more annually for garbage disposal.
"Flow control is a must," Wishnick said. "There's no other way to guarantee a profit."
The
proposal would also ask the state for permission to enact flow control
for recyclables. This would ensure Ulster has sufficient revenue to
invest in equipment for "single stream," where all recyclable materials
are collected together.
Most committee members wanted additional
financial information before rendering a verdict on the proposal, but
John Parete, D-Boiceville, was adamantly opposed. "The
more the government sticks their hand in the pie, the worse it gets,"
Parete said. "You don't raise your prices to bring more businesses in." He wanted the county to sell its assets and get out of the trash disposal business.
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