Pinellas County, Florida issued the following announcement on August 19.
Solid Waste to raise some fees
The Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste proposes to increase the disposal rate for municipal solid waste, commercial and yard waste by an average of 6 percent, beginning on Oct. 1, 2021. The increase is the third of a three-year rate increase plan approved by the Board of County Commissioners in 2019. If approved, the disposal rate for municipal, commercial and yard waste will increase from $42.15 to $44.70 per ton.
“Prior to this three-year increase, the Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste has kept its disposal rate unchanged for the past 30 years and will still be the lowest in the market area once rates have been adjusted,” said Paul Sacco, director of Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste.
The additional revenue from the disposal rate increase will offset the future revenue lost as the current 30-year power purchase agreement with Duke Energy expires in 2024. The revenues are necessary to fund operations and maintenance expenses for the waste-to-energy facility, landfill and several solid waste programs.
In addition to the approved disposal rate increase, other fees are proposed for increase. The proposed increases will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners during the second public hearing for the FY22 budget on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, beginning at 6 p.m.
The proposed rate/fee increases are:
• Tires, from $110 to $125 per ton, with no flat rate
• Out-of-county municipal solid waste, commercial waste, and yard waste surcharge of $44.70 per ton in addition to the per ton fee of $44.70 per ton
The flat rate for passenger vehicles, unmodified pickup trucks, and vans, special handling services fee, contractor surcharge and the special rate for Christmas trees remain unchanged.
The rate increases were reviewed and approved by the Solid Waste Technical Management Committee, an advisory body to the Board of County Commissioners, comprised of solid waste professionals from both public and private entities.
Beginning operations in 1983, the Waste-to-Energy facility can process up to 3,150 tons of solid waste per day while generating 75 megawatt hours of renewable electrical energy. In 2020, the facility reduced nearly 1.2 billion pounds of waste by 90 percent of its volume, generated 508,394 megawatt hours of electricity and recovered 52 million pounds of metal from the incineration process.
For more information about the Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste and the Waste-to-Energy facility, visit www.pinellascounty.org/solidwaste.
Original source can be found here.
