2006-05-18 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Mr. Dworsky said that someone has to pay for that. The trouble now is getting the Council to approve the DEM's operating budget. A portion of their funds comes from the tipping fee. Most haulers charge that back through their business and cover their costs. People in residential areas have the option of signing up for a hauler, but people living in the boondocks may not have that option. Mr. Dworsky said to look at East Hawaii. Of the 200 tons of solid waste generated per day, half is commercially hauled and the other half is residential. They get $75 per ton times 100 tons per day for the commercial waste. For the other 100 tons, they receive no revenue, and the budget makes up the difference. Off the top of his head, about half of their overall operating cost is funded through commercial haulers, and the other half is funded through the County. They try to keep the commercial waste out of the residential, but in reality that does not always happen. Many smaller transfer stations are ungated and unguarded, and some small commercial haulers will dump trash there. There are not enough secured, locked, and guarded stations. More illegal dumping will be seen over time. However, lowering the tipping fees may also encourage someone to go into business. Mr. Sakaguchi said that is the point. If the tipping fee were dropped, more people might go into small business. Mr. Joseph said he knew people in the residential hauling business who went out of business when the County raised the tipping fee. It was not cost - effective for the haulers to raise the price for each customer, and many customers dropped the service. He felt it would be better to get more residents to use residential haulers and that more people would want to use them if the rates were lower. Mr. Sakaguchi agreed. If he takes his own rubbish to the dump, the County does not make any money. Mr. Dworsky said it could be a possibility. If there was a law that people had to use commercial haulers, the County could lower the rate because it would be paid for on the commercial side. They would encourage the private sector to get into the business. Also, less transfer stations would be needed, and the tipping fee could be lowered if not all stations were open. It would be all or none, though. Mr. Sakaguchi asked if this could be done on an experimental basis, with a small community, to see the reaction. The County could try for a grant to offset the tipping fee and make it possible for small business people to provide the service, and the County would still make the $75. This might route more of the garbage through private business and general some revenue. The alternative is making no money when people take their own trash to the landfill. Mr. Dworsky said that in Honolulu and Maui, there are Public Works people picking up the trash. It could be done here, but the rules on tipping fees would need to be changed and new rules put in place. For the Waikoloa study, if the board is hesitant to put a charge on every resident, there is the opportunity to lower the rate so that everyone is willing to separate the trash. Right now, if you told people they would have to pay $15 to $20 per month and have to sort their rubbish, there would be resistance.