Waste District Approves Budget, Shows Profit

— The public entity responsible for solid waste management in Washington and Madison counties hopes to make a slight profit for the first time in two years.

The Boston Mountain Solid Waste District board approved a 2013 budget Tuesday during its first meeting of the year. The district budgeted $1.24 million in revenue, including taxpayer contributions from Class 1 cities. The district budgeted to spend $1.2 million.

At A Glance

Boston Mountain Solid Waste District

The Boston Mountain Solid Waste District is one of 18 in Arkansas. The district provides solid waste management in Washington and Madison counties. It operates a transfer station west of Prairie Grove where residents drop off solid waste and recyclables. The waste is taken to the Eco-Vista Landfill near Tontitown, and recyclables are sold. The district also works with cities to provide recycling programs for residents to reduce solid waste disposal.

Source: Staff Report

“That’s a pretty tight budget,” said Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan, a board member.

A $43,739 profit is planned for this year compared to a $51,276 loss in 2012 and a $342 loss in 2011.

“A large part of that is positions have opened that we're not choosing to fill,” Robyn Reed, director, said after the meeting.

The district has 12 of its 16 positions filled, according to reports given to the board. The four empty positions would save the district $133,336 in wages, according to the budget.

The board hired Reed in December after Maylon Rice, the former director, was fired Sept. 13 after accusations surfaced of financial and personnel mismanagement.

Reed’s 2013 budget eliminated and consolidated line items to avoid redundancies from prior year budgets, such as two separate items labeled “automobile” and “vehicle” expenses.

“It took a lot of time to put together and figure where stuff should have gone and also to anticipate what we hope to see this year,” Reed said.

Reed also managed to fit in almost $4,000 in bonus payments that weren’t given to eight employees during the holidays last year.

The board also approved a request from the Carroll County Solid Waste Authority to use the Eco-Vista Landfill near Tontitown this year. The authority estimates dumping 21,000 tons of solid waste at the landfill annually.

The waste district would receive from the landfill $1.50 for every ton coming from Carroll County, or about $31,500. That extra revenue wasn’t budgeted in the district’s 2013 budget, Reed said.

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