Solid Waste District Cuts Budget, Asks For Help

CENTERTON — A pair of court rulings has left the Benton County Solid Waste District scrambling to deal with the law of unintended consequences.

Judges in Benton and Washington counties ruled last week that solid waste districts in Benton, Madison and Washington counties can’t collect certain fees from waste haulers because the districts don’t physically “handle” the garbage. The fees made up most of the expected revenue in the Benton County Solid Waste District’s budget, and the loss of that money left the district looking at deep staff cuts in order tokeep operating through the end of the year.

Director Wendy Cravens presented an amended budget for 2010 to the district’s finance and personnel committee and to the full board of directors at separate meetings Thursday. The amended budget eliminates the district’s assistant director position and cuts the director and off ce coordinator from full-time positions to working eight to 12 hours a week. Cravens said those cuts would save the district $57,400 and keep the rural recycling and household hazardous waste programs running.

While the board approved aresolution to make the cuts, effective Aug. 8, another resolution aims to head off the immediate losses by asking members of the district for additional contributions to carry the district through the end of 2010.

The district receives what it calls “local contributions” from Benton County and from cities that are members. The contributions are based on population and calculated at a rate of 50 cents per person. At a rate of 50 cents per person, the district budgetedfor $96,391.50 in local contributions for 2010. If each of the member entities agreed to add another contribution at a rate of 30 cents per person, the added contributions would total $57,834.90, according to an estimate Cravens gave the board.

Board member Jim Clark of Rogers said the request for additional contributions was a stopgap solution to the current emergency and required each of the district’s member entities support to be successful. Cravens was asked to prepare a presentation for the Quorum Courtand the city councils on the district’s request.

Cravens told the board the budget cuts should be made even before the district’s members are asked for aid.

“We have to be conservative and expect we’re not going to get the money,” Cravens said.

Turning to possible longterm solutions to the district’s financial woes, the board split over the idea of imposing a fee on county residents that would be gathered by the tax collector. Gentry Mayor Wes Hogue said state law allows the district’s board to imposesuch a fee by a simple majority vote.

Clark and Bethel Heights Mayor Fred Jack both objected to the idea of the board imposing a fee without a vote by the public and placing it on a person’s tax bill.

“If you put it on the tax bill it looks like a tax and not a fee,” Clark said.

Jack suggested, and the board agreed, that the waste hauling companies the district does business with should be asked to help the district through this crisis. He suggested they be approached about making some sort ofvoluntary contribution to the district.

“If you don’t ask, they won’t have a chance to say yes,” he said.

Hogue said he and Cravens would try to set up meetings with the waste haulers to see if they would be willing to offer any help.

The board identified the most likely solution to the district’s problems as some sort of legislation at the state level. Board members agreed that Benton County legislators should be briefed on the district’s situation and asked to help.