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February 15, 2006Recycling: $29 fee suggestedLELAND - Leelanau County officials are touting a plan that would ask voters to approve an annual $29 per-household tax to fund recycling programs.The proposal is the latest step in the county's search for a long-term financial solution to support recycling services currently funded through a 50-cent charge for each cubic yard of waste deposited at Glen's Landfill in Kasson Township. Those revenues, between $150,000 and $185,000 annually, depend on fluctuating waste volumes and haven't kept pace with recycling costs that total about $275,000 each year. Sarah Lucas, the county's senior planner, said a voter-approved flat fee emerged as the best available option. "They kept coming back to the household fee because it seemed to be the fairest way to fund the recycling program," she said. Waste haulers and others taking items to the landfill would benefit from the proposed residential tax, because it would replace the landfill surcharge. Bill Perkins, chairman of the county's solid waste council, predicted the landfill surcharge would continue to fund recycling if voters reject the measure. But officials devised the $29 annual tax to be a steady funding source on its own, he said. The proposed tax will be on the Aug. 8 ballot if each township and village in the county adopts the interlocal agreement authorized by Public Act. 69 of 2005. The new law, sponsored by state Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, allows counties to impose a yearly fee of up to $50 per household to fund recycling if approved by voters. The $29 charge would be placed on winter tax bills for the next five years for an estimated 14,377 housing units, generating $416,933 per year. The county reduced that estimate to $375,240 per year, anticipating late payment on 10 percent of tax bills. Leelanau County currently offers seven drop-off sites that collect about 1,200 tons of recyclable paper, cardboard, tin and plastic each year, as well as household hazardous waste collections and electronics recycling. Proposed additions include two new drop-off sites, additional household hazardous waste collections and electronics recycling, expanded education efforts, composting and tire cleanup. New services would not include regular curbside pickup. The upgraded programs would cost an estimated $363,975. That amount does not include $83,000 for one-time expenses such as extra bins for new sites, which might be spread out over several years. Lucas said about $29,000 in recycling-related administrative costs for the county solid waste council, planning and community development employees and solid waste management plan updates would be paid for by the new tax. Those costs are currently paid through the county general fund. Kasson, Solon, Elmwood and Leland townships and the villages of Empire and Northport already approved the interlocal agreement. The remaining townships and villages will vote on the agreement within the next month. The county secured similar interlocal agreements with townships and villages in 1991 and 1994 under Public Act. 138 of 1989, but stopped charging that $13 annual fee to homeowners in 2000 amid legal concerns. The new law amends Public Act 138 to include a public vote.
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