Granite County begins overhaul of solid-waste billing: treasurer proposes signed agreements to fix commercial 'units' and clarify overage rates

Ashley Todd, Granite County treasurer, presented a draft agreement intended to document and correct how many solid-waste "units" are assessed to commercial properties and to reduce repeated billing disputes.

Todd told the board, "One of the things that Blaine and I have discussed, and Blaine sent me a draft agreement, is mostly to focus on the number of units being assessed to commercial properties, and having something in writing with those properties." She said the county had encountered properties assessed for more units than policy allows or properties that have never been added to the tax roll despite using the dump, which produced disputes and back-office work with the Department of Revenue.

Under the plan discussed, county staff would send a standard letter plus a case-by-case agreement for businesses the treasurer and hauler identify as producing more or fewer units than their current assessment. The draft agreement would add agreed additional units to a property's tax roll or, where businesses refuse to sign, move them into "overages" (user fees billed for dump use). Todd said the process relies on cooperation between county staff, the disposal contractor and the Department of Revenue to close administrative gaps.

The board and staff also clarified several user-fee details commissioners said have caused taxpayer confusion: - Account holders (property taxpayers) would continue to be charged the account-holder rate (the treasurer and board described this as 7¢ per pound or through purchase of a $1.35-per-unit option) for overages tied to their property; nonresidents and non-account users pay a pay-as-you-go rate (discussed as 20¢ per pound). - Pay-as-you-go minimum: staff recommended raising the minimum cash transaction from $7.50 to $8 to avoid providing 50¢ change at the scale booths. - Hours and contact details: county staff will update the solid-waste policy to reflect current site hours (10 a.m.–6 p.m.) and post the updated policy to the county website.

Todd and the board agreed to circulate the draft agreement and a template letter to affected businesses, put final edits and legal review on next week's agenda, and to ask the hauler (Scott and Rick were cited repeatedly as evidence sources) to provide usage reports so the county can propose unit changes with supporting data.

Ending

Commissioners did not take a final vote on the draft agreement at this meeting but directed staff to send the proposed letters and present a final version for adoption at the next meeting. Treasurer Todd said staff would produce a watch list of accounts and provide quarterly usage statements to help identify mismatches between assessed units and actual disposal activity.