Former commissioner warns against using regional landfill fee fund for non-landfill services

At the June 3 meeting, former Commissioner Moses Todd urged the Augusta Richmond County Commission to stop using regional landfill fee revenues for non-landfill services such as demolition, mosquito spraying and street sweeping, saying those fees belong to the landfill’s ratepayers and should be used for landfill operation, closure and debt service.

Todd, who said he led efforts to secure the landfill permit in the 1990s and who has followed the landfill’s operations for decades, told commissioners the landfill is owned by taxpayers and that the hauler fee fund should be preserved for costs directly tied to landfill operations, closure and post-closure care and for servicing bonded indebtedness resulting from prior commissions’ actions.

“It is my opinion that’s a misappropriation of the funds” to use the hauler-fee fund for general services, Todd said. He said that previous administrations sometimes authorized transfers from the landfill fund to pay for city services and pay increases, but he urged the current commission to reconsider that practice. Todd cited a recent budget year where the hauler-rate fund was about $500,000 in the red, while nearly $1 million was pulled from the fund for various services.

Todd recommended the commission examine alternative funding sources for demolition, mosquito spraying and street sweeping instead of drawing on the landfill fund. He also said the commission could consider procuring more than one service provider to run hauler services for additional security.

Commissioners thanked Todd for his history and perspective; no vote or directive to change policy was recorded. The commission did not immediately change its practice at the June 3 meeting and asked staff to note the concerns raised for further consideration.