Rates could rise at landfill

Board may not return to glass and plastic recycling

Rates at the Taos landfill could rise in the near future based on findings from a new study.

As a partner on the Taos Regional Landfill Board, the town of Taos heard a presentation from councilor George “Fritz” Hahn regarding the recently completed rate study for the landfill and recycling center. Hahn said the study found that the recycling center would need to be subsidized by payments from Taos County residents and the landfill would require a rate increase per ton.

Currently, town customers pay $.75 per month for the recycling center while county residents pay nothing to use it.

The county has pushed back for several years on the idea that its residents should pay to support the center, but Hahn said that’s beginning to change.

“We are at the point now where the county and our regional partners have a much more receptive view,” Hahn said about sharing the cost of the center.

The landfill board took over the Taos Recycling Center in September and shut down glass and plastic operations until after the rate study was completed. Currently the board is not planning on returning to glass and plastic recycling for the time being.

Recycling took a hit in 2019 when expenditures rose from $200,000 to $230,000 with revenues only increasing by $10,000.

The rate study concluded that recycling operations would continue to operate on a deficit for the foreseeable future.

“At this time there are no new sources of revenue to assist with reducing this deficit,” the study says.

An increase in landfill tonnage would mean customers at the landfill could be paying an additional $1.13 per ton of material, according to Hahn. Hahn also said there has not been an increase since 2014.

The rate increase would help pay into the deficit in the recycling center and would also assist the board with landfill costs. According to Hahn, the cost to dig a new cell, the place where material is kept, has increased from $1.2 million to $2 million.

According to the study, the only way to cut current costs at the landfill would be to reduce hours, a decision Landfill Board Chairman Russell Church has said he wants to avoid.

Partners of the board include Taos County, Eagle Nest, Red River, Taos Ski Valley and Questa. Each municipality has presented the study to its respective councils and will be discussing the issue at a 9 a.m. July 23 meeting.

If the board passes the increase, the town will vote to accept it as the fiscal agent for the board.