Lycoming County commissioners start multi-month review of landfill finances; sale, authority or management options on table

Lycoming County commissioners said on Feb. 20 they will conduct a multimonth review of county landfill finances after recent internal reviews showed the landfill may be operating at a loss.

The review is intended to determine whether the county should continue running the landfill, create a regional authority, lease management to a third party or sell the facility. Commissioners said they expect work on the evaluation to continue for 10 to 12 months and that the county’s financial team is rebuilding records and reporting to provide the information needed for a decision.

Commissioner Sorkin, who introduced the statement, apologized to landfill staff for learning of evaluation results through news reports and said the reported losses should not be attributed to individual employees. He said the county’s financial team and controller’s office are auditing past records and working to identify the causes of the shortfalls.

Controller Nikki Gutschell told commissioners the controller’s office and the county financial team are coordinating to update bank reconciliations and reporting; she said the objective is to have reporting current by September 2025. The commissioners said they had uncovered shortfalls and were reviewing years of profit-and-loss records to understand whether the landfill has been operating at a loss and why.

Commissioner Messina and other commissioners described the issue as complex and not the fault of a single person or department. They said the county has a range of possible responses: continue operating with cost-cutting and efficiency measures, lease operations to a private manager, create an authority to run the site, or sell the asset. Commissioners emphasized all options are under study and that they will recommend whatever course they judge best for taxpayers.

Public comment included praise for landfill operations and environmental safeguards. Larry Stout of Montgomery, a longtime neighbor, told commissioners the landfill historically followed Department of Environmental Protection regulations and had worked closely with the community, praising the site’s operational controls and responsiveness to neighbors’ concerns.

Commissioners noted broader context: they said municipal ownership of landfills has declined across Pennsylvania and that only a small number remain municipally owned. They also noted constraints on federal land granted to the county (a sale would not be possible until 2026, as described in the meeting). Commissioners said any sale would require choosing a buyer that would be a community partner, not purely a commercial purchaser.

The board did not take formal action on the landfill at the Feb. 20 meeting. Commissioners said staff and outside advisers will return with financial details and options in coming months to support a policy decision.

For now, the county will continue the evaluation while landfill operations and staff remain in place.