Recycling in Walton County

[scooterbug44]

One statistic I've heard is that 65% of the content of landfills is stuff that could be recycled.

Considering the rate of expansion and the amount of trash produced in Sowal (and how much of it is glass, aluminum cans, or plastic bottles) I think a functional recycling program should be a high priority!

 

[savvytangerine]

Good morning

Currently, any surplus from the one cent sales tax (which is what funds garbage collection) is used to fund the principal and interest repayments on the $30 million bank credit line for capital projects and for road and bridge projects. During the past eighteen months, we have fallen short on sales tax revenues from what Tallahassee has told us to budget. Therefore any "surplus" has been meager or non-existent.

I am not sure what kind of recycling projects are envisioned. However, I know that the ones proposed by the trash haulers are not cheap. I did some projections on the $4 per unit per month fee of Waste Management and $6 per month per unit fee that Dayco wants, and we come out with a cost of just under $2 million per year. We would end up paying whether a unit recycles of not, and that seems to be an extravagant waste of dollars.

I would be interested in other concepts, as I share a concern for our environment, and recycling is one of many ways to help a little in addressing those concerns.

Best regards,

Bill Imfeld
Finance Director

From: Savvytangerine
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2008 9:39 PM
To: William Imfeld
Subject: Walton County trash question..

Hi -

I am a member of Sowal.com/bb, a local message board. There is a group of us that are wanting to look into realistic options for recycling in this area.

Several have suggested that a good starting place would be seeing what (if any) available surplus funds exist from out current garbage program. Are you able to share this information with us?
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Thought everyone would be interested in this email.

I do think there are lots of programs that deserve better funding in this county.

I would love to try to think about a way to approach this problem from a different angle. What about a private company that would be willing to haul recycling for a monthly fee? What about the idea of some sort of corporate sponsorship? I'm a little unsure whether it is better to start by focusing on individual private communities or on the county as a whole.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's take on this!


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[scooterbug44]

I bet there is some sort of gov't grant/start up $ we can take advantage of to offset the $2 million.

How many times a week/month does that $2 million cover? Using WAY overly simplified math, if that estimate was to have recycling picked up as frequently as trash, we could save some $$$ by only having a weekly or bimonthly recycling route.

 

[savvytangerine]

I bet there is some sort of gov't grant/start up $ we can take advantage of to offset the $2 million.

How many times a week/month does that $2 million cover? Using WAY overly simplified math, if that estimate was to have recycling picked up as frequently as trash, we could save some $$$ by only having a weekly or bimonthly recycling route.

Grayt thinking!

Does anyone have any expierence researching grants? I think that is a wonderful idea to encourage the county. I also think maybe a weekly pick up during season and then a bi-weekly pick up in off season...

Personally I would pay a little a month/year to help cover my cost in recycling pick up. Maybe there could be a way for a suggested payment to help off-set the costs. (I don't mean a mandatory bill, or maybe their is a way to charge the private communities to ease the presure on the county?)

Loving this brainstorming!

 

[NotDeadYet]

Currently, any surplus from the one cent sales tax (which is what funds garbage collection) is used to fund the principal and interest repayments on the $30 million bank credit line for capital projects and for road and bridge projects. During the past eighteen months, we have fallen short on sales tax revenues from what Tallahassee has told us to budget. Therefore any "surplus" has been meager or non-existent.

So we have been using the surplus for something other than landfill/garbage. Until recently.
If I am reading this correctly, the reason we no longer have a surplus is because sales tax revenues declined below the estimate and therefore fell short of what was budgeted. But this begs the question. Is what was budgeted adequate or inadequate to fund present garbarge services? Was it all budgeted for garbage, or used elsewhere? Is it a case of, well, we think we are going to collect x number of dollars in sales tax, therefore we can spend x number of dollars, and therefore there is no surplus?
If we looked just at the 1% sales tax revenue and the cost for garbage/ landfill, are they even close?

See, this is what I meant when I said it should be an easy question but the answer might not be exactly straightforward.

Can someone help frame a new set of questions for Mr. Imfeld?

 

[NotDeadYet]

Forgot to say, thank you, Savvy!

 

[NotDeadYet]

I also like SJ's suggestion that recycling pickups be combined with a regular pickup by compartmentalizing the truck. Is that more or less it, SJ?
I think that would be less expensive.

 

[John R]

How coincidental that Waste Management's new site went live today: http://www.thinkgreen.com/

it takes a little while to load up, but it's worth the wait.

 

[wrobert]

Thought everyone would be interested in this email.​

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Strange response. Last month he stated in a public forum, or at least I understood that we were only $20 million in debt, and we just accessed another $5 million last week. He also said that sales tax collections in Walton County were only down slightly, I think he used 10% as a number, while the rest of Florida was suffering immensely. I guess things are presented different when someone is making an argument for more money. I have also heard that the jail and courthouse were paid for by surplus collections over the past 10 years that the projects had been planned. I guess it really is hard to figure out what the truth is in numbers anymore.

Solve the problem, vote YES on Amendment 1. If they can not be straight about the money, take it away from them.

 

[savvytangerine]

See, this is what I meant when I said it should be an easy question but the answer might not be exactly straightforward.

Can someone help frame a new set of questions for Mr. Imfeld?

I will be happy to send another email along with specific questions if anyone wants me to. Here is his email if anyone would like to contact him directly: imfbill@co.walton.fl.us.

Forgot to say, thank you, Savvy!

Thank you for starting this thread!

[/left]

Strange response.

I guess the way I'm looking at it right now, is that the county likes the idea of recycling but doesn't know how to start or fund a program. Maybe it is our role to help them along a little.

I would love to hear some more opinions and ideas on this - goodness knows I'm not really sure where to go next. Does anyone think it would do any good to contact Waste Management?