CCP 03-31-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. f:mlGiT A 1/3 Department of Public Health - Division of Solid Waste 08"-' Zack Hansen, Manager , , r~/' 1670 Beam Avenue, Suite B MLlc .' Tel: 612-773.4444 '. " 1 Maplewood, MN 55109-1129 '.,;: 1(1/-'. Fax: 612-773-4454 '.J;:'1 .- (/;10, , '~..,:...",A... '- 'L . - ..." lif L) February 26, 1997 - I TO: Commercial Property Tax Payer ., ~ FROM: Zack Hansen, Division Manager 'Di- RE: 1997 Waste Management Service Charge (WMSC) I ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am writing with regard to your 1997 Property Tax Statement, which you should soon receive. Line - 0097 of the statement is for the "Waste Management Service Charge," or WMSC. This service charge - shows an increase from 1996. This letter and the enclosed fact sheet explain the change. ~ - In summary, the WMSC will increase in 1997 to pay for reduced revenues collected through the - tipping fee at the RamseylWashington County Resource Recovery Facility in Newport, MN. This ~ Facility converts garbage into a fuel that is used to generate electricity for Minnesota homes and businesses, and has been the primary location to which Ramsey County waste has been delivered since - 1987. This Facility was created as an environmentally-preferred option to landfilling, and its operation J . has avoided the need for the County to site additional landfills to manage waste. The cost of .. processing waste has not changed, but the methods used to pay for processing have changed, resulting in an increase in the WMSC. I Ramsey County is partially responsible for the Facility's financial viability. Previously, the County enacted an ordinance which required all waste generated in the County be delivered to the Facility as a I means of assuring its viability. Recent Supreme Court and Federal Court decisions have limited the County's authority to use the ordinance to influence the delivery of waste. However, the County's responsibilities, both to the Facility and to the taxpayer, remain the same. I In 1996, the Ramsey and Washington County Boards of Commissioners decided to offer a lower tipping fee to haulers who would sign agreements to deliver waste collected in the two Counties to the I Facility. Haulers who have signed such an agreement enjoy a tipping fee of$38.00 per ton; those who have not signed an agreement must pay $50.00 per ton. Although revenues collected through the I tipping fee are reduced, operating costs at the Facility are not. An increase in the WMSC makes up for the reduction in tipping fee revenues. The total amount of revenue collected to operate the Facility remains the same; only the way in which the revenue is generated is changing. I This strategy appears to be the County's best option at this time to meet its responsibilities to the taxpayer and to the environment. The attached fact sheet provides more detailed information about this I matter. If you have any questions about this issue, please feel free to contact our office at 773-4444. .. I MInnesota's first Home Rule County printed on recyeled piper ",Uti. minImum Gt l~ post-ronlumer CIlntent . ~