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RESOLUTION NO. 09-136
A RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE HOUSE PCB-NRAC-09-02
WHICH PROPOSES A SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FEE FOR
SOLI~ WASTE ACCEPTED BY A LANDFILL
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made
the following determinations:
1. The House Natural Resources Appropriations Committee has passed Bill PCB-
NRAC-09-02 which proposes a solid waste disposal fee of $1.25 per ton of solid waste
accepted by a landfill.
2, The Board believes it is in the best interest of the citizens of St. Lucie County
to oppose PCB-NRAC-09-02 for the following reasons:
A. This is a fee imposed on local governments for providing an essential
government service. Local governments are required to provide solid waste services under
Florida law, and the proposed fee ~s effectively a tax on local government for providing that
service.
B. This fee will affect all taxpayers, not just a group of users that choose
to do a certain activity. Everyone needs solid waste collection services.
C. Not all materials brought to a landfill are brought there for final
disposition; rather, some materials are used beneficially, or are recovered from landfills for
recycling or energy production.
D. Materials may sometimes make more than one landfill stop before they
reach their final resting place which means that materials could be subject to the fee more
than once.
E. Certain types of landfill facilities do not have scales. They may accept
waste and payments on a cubic yard basis instead of tons. This will make data collection and
implementation of a solid waste disposal fee challenging.
F. The proposed fee is premature. The Department of Environmental
Protection is working on a comprehensive report relating to the 75% recycling goal that was
passed as part of House Bill 7135. The report is due to the Legislature early next year. The
Legislature will be conducting an examination of solid waste collection and recycling issues
next year. Solid waste cotlection issues should not be handled in a piecemeal fashion. It
would be more appropriate for all solid waste issues to be handled collectively next year.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St.
Lucie County, Florida:
1. This Board does hereby oppose PCB-NRAC-09-02 for the reasons indicated in
the above paragraphs.
2. The County Administrator is hereby directed to forward a copy of this
resolution to the members of the St. Lucie County Legislative Delegation.
After motion and second, the vote on this Resolution was as follows:
Chair Paula A. Lewis Aye
Vice-Chair Charles 6rande Aye
Commissioner poug Coward Aye
Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky Aye
Commissioner Chris Craft Aye
this 21St day of April 2009.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
BY: `
Chair
AS TO FORM
BY:
County