On the issue Rio Arriba County Commissioner Elias Coriz dubbed a “hot potato,” the Commission decided Nov. 20 to raise monthly trash rates for County residents by $3 in January and another $1.20 next November.
County residents, excluding those in Española, Chama and on tribal lands, currently pay $10.80 a month for the service; the two increases will bring that rate to $15 a month. According to projections prepared by North Central Solid Waste Manager Joe Lewandowski, increasing the rate by $4.20 would save the County $478,800 per year of the $780,000 it currently pays out of its general fund to support the Authority.
Assistant County Manager Tomas Campos said if it were up to him he would raise the rate to $17.80 so the County would be completely free of the expense, but the Commission did not want to suddenly saddle County residents with the entire cost.
“Economic times are hard,” Commissioner Felipe Martinez said.
Commission Chairman Alfredo Montoya said that he does not foresee the County getting away from subsidizing the Authority to some degree. He said he wants to preserve County funds, but not at the expense of hurting County residents who can’t afford a big rate increase.
“The taxpayers are gonna pay, anyway,” he said.
Lewandowski said there is a chance the Authority could take steps to further lessen the burden on the County in the next year and possibly even become self-sufficient without another rate increase. He said garbage trucks will soon be outfitted with global positioning systems, and using the tracking data he hopes to be able to eliminate some routes and make the operation more efficient.
However, his main hope in the longer term is to build a new indoor transfer station in the Española area, but negotiations with Ohkay Owingeh for a piece of land on which to build have stalled.
Lewandowski said the Authority could save nearly $400,000 a year in landfill fees if it started doing its own recycling, and the recycled materials would become an additional source of revenue.
“We’ve gotta get the place built,” he said.
The Authority currently pays $15 a ton to have recyclables processed in Santa Fe and $35 a ton in landfill fees for trash.
County Manager Lorenzo Valdez said the County may help the Authority acquire a piece of federal land in Alcalde on which to build. Lewandowski said a 10-acre lot would be enough space for the new station and would also allow the Authority to consolidate maintenance and truck-washing services with the County and the Regional Transit District.
Coriz said he has been getting angry calls from his constituents asking him to justify a rate increase. He said he thought the Authority would be self-sufficient by now and no longer require County funds to operate.
“It never happened. That’s why I’m having some heartburn here this evening,” he said.
Karen Thomas, of La Mesilla, said the Authority should increase its collection rates before increasing rates for paying customers.
“I can afford the increase,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that can’t.”
Lewandowski said more than 90 percent of people in the County are paying their bills, and the Authority has placed nearly 800 liens on properties whose owners have delinquent accounts. He said he will soon take further legal action to collect more of the $1.2 million in outstanding bills.
The $3 increase will take effect Jan. 1, though people who pay for the whole year at once can get a price break. The annual payment for 2009 will be $138, versus $165 for people who pay by the month. After the second increase, the annual payment will be $150.