Tipping fees at the Portage County landfill could drop $2 per ton next year.
The draft 2000 Solid Waste Department budget is based on revenues received from a $40 per ton tipping fee, said Solid Waste Administrator Gene Edwards. The current tipping fee is $42 per ton.
Edwards' only concern about lowering the tipping fee is the state budget hasn't been passed and there's the possibility of Portage County losing $150,000 in state recycling grants, he told the Solid Waste Management Board Thursday, Sept. 9.
The Solid Waste Management Department projects a $302,000 budget surplus at the end of the year, Edwards said. The surplus has built up faster than expected the past three years, even with increased competition from private firms.
"Some of it (waste) is going out, but the county is growing so fast that it makes up for what you're losing," Edwards said.