NORWAY – Norway/Paris Solid Waste will increase its fees starting the first of the year, which will place more financial responsibility on its users and help ease the tax burden on local residents, according to officials.
“Instead of asking for more taxes, we’ll be asking people who use the service to pay for the service,” Alison McCrady, the transfer station general manager, said recently.
Transfer station users will begin paying $8 instead of $5 to dispose of mercury or Freon appliances. Large furniture fees will increase to $7, and small furniture to $4, to cover dismantling costs. And people will now pay to dump a variety of items at Frost Hill Landfill.
Leaves, grass, yard waste and material that can be composted will be free, but everything else will have some charge associated with it, McCrady said. The fees vary depending on the size or weight of the load.
McCrady said the new system is designed to increase the self-sufficiency of the operation, as well as be more equitable.
The board of directors is also trying to pay off a 25-year bond note, which the organization borrowed in 1992 to help create the Frost Hill Landfill, said board Treasurer Bruce Hanson last week.
About $160,000 is left of the original amount, according to minutes from the last meeting. If the bond were paid back soon, the organization would save $60,000 to $65,000 in interest over the remaining life of the note, Hanson said.
The board had voted at its last meeting to pay off the U.S. Department of Agriculture bond when the funds became available, according to the minutes.
Hanson said the organization can afford to do this because the landfill’s life has been extended by increased recycling and good management practices. Keeping more material out of the landfill has delayed the need to open a new cell.
The funds that were to fund that expansion can now be used to pay off the bond, Hanson said. With the landfill filling more slowly, the organization has more time to save money for the eventual growth of the landfill, he said.
Citizens are welcome to attend the next board meeting at the Paris Town Office at 7 p.m. Dec. 19, which will have a public comment period.
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