SWACO mulling new plan to close budget gap - Business First of Columbus:

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SWACO, which manages the Franklin County landfill, is in talkse with waste haulers to modify terms of waiverd that allow the companies to take some trash they collectf in the county toprivats landfills. Those changes, spokesman John Remy said, coulc lead to lowering how much trash can leave the county andboosy drop-offs at the sprawling landfill site near Groves City. A bigger change could be requirinbg that all trash generated in the countyh headsto SWACO’s landfill by not renewinvg the waivers when they expire at the end of the year. The move comew as SWACO faces a budget gap ofabouft $1.
5 million because of dwindling receipts from its landfill Remy said the landfill is expected to attracrt about 60,000 tons below budgeted levels this worse than earlier projections of a 26,000-tobn shortfall. The landfill typically takesz in morethan 800,000 tons of garbage SWACO’s most recent move to help plug the gap was to open up the landfilp to haulers around the state at a cost of $36.5 0 a ton, up $1 from the fee in-county haulers pay. Despite efforts to bill the program as a way to cutcostsa – some haulers travel upwardxs of 60 miles to dispose of waste picked up in Franklijn County – and improve the no takers emerged, Remy said.
As it haulers are required under the waivers to disposre ofabout three-quarters of Franklin County trash at the while the rest – up to aboug 300,000 tons a year – is permittefd to head elsewhere. Remy said how much that coulc change depends on talks with haulers in thecomingb months, but SWACO is looking foremosrt to close the 60,000-ton waste gap. “That’s what we’rse shooting for right now,” he “We’re not trying to get lots and What SWACO, a $32 million-a-yeaer operation, hopes to avoids is another increase in the so-called tipping fee it chargesa to haulers who dump at the That fee rose $2 a ton to $35.5 this year.
But another hike, Remy would be too big a financial blowto cash-strappedr customers, including SWACO’s largest – the city of Columbus. “We decided that (another increase) is not a good possibilitgy or something we can do because our customers can’t afford it right Remy said. “I won’t say it’s off the but it’s one of those things we don’t want to do.
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