Landfill has been center of much debate, for taxpayers

My hope is, and of course the county will have to vote on this, is to use the revenue that comes in from the landfill to get rid of that $5 fee.”

Denny Wayne Robinson, county executive

White County’s Solid Waste project with the landfill has been a contentious matter as of late for county residents.

To explain matters outside of the monthly White County Board of Commissioners’ meetings, County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson has posted information and updates about the landfill, Gum Spring Mountain Road’s convenience center, and the justification for the project. The Expositor reached out to Robinson as well, to ask about the future of the landfill and how it will affect the county moving forward.

In recent commission meetings, as well as a recent post from the Robinson, residents of the county voiced complaints about the landfill. Some of the complaints included a lack of transparency and speed of information, disapproval of the convenience center on Gum Spring Mountain Road closing, and the $5 charge on electric bills.

Robinson explained on Facebook that the county had to pay $8 million to continue operating the landfill because of changes in regulation. That $8 million was just to keep the landfill operating under the county, and it did not include any of the other costs associated with it.

When speaking to Robinson, he said he believes that this transition will be a major benefit to the county long term.

“The takeaways are the two operations, $8 million to continue operating the landfill, Waste Management has paid that for us,” he said. “That’s not on the back of the taxpayer just so the county can continue operating it. Solid Waste will go from losing half-a-million a year, to getting three-quarters-a-million a year. The convenience center was an unforeseen casualty of this, but we are working hard to get a new one open nearby as quick as we can.”

Robinson also shared that White County was one of the only counties in the area to operate its own landfill. It was non-cost effective to continue operation, and the county would still have to pay the $8 million even if they just shut the landfill down.

Robinson explained the $5 fee that is on electric bills in the county, citing a decision from the county commission back in the 80’s.

“That is how the $5 fee on electric bills started,” he said. “The plan they created served the county well for almost 30 years, even though the $5 stopped covering the cost of operation over a decade ago but no commissioner wanted to raise the fee to match expenses.”

In his talk with The Expositor, Robinson did share a hope regarding that fee.

“My hope is, and of course the county will have to vote on this, is to use the revenue that comes in from the landfill to get rid of that $5 fee,” he said. “I can’t promise it, since that is something the county commission will vote on, but that is my hope and goal. Once that revenue comes in, we can take off that fee because it won’t be covering operation cost anymore.”