Atchison County adopts five-year solid waste management plan, staff flag budget gap for 2026

The Atchison County Board of Commissioners adopted the county’s five-year solid waste management plan update by resolution on April 8 and received a staff briefing on the solid waste fund’s recent balances and a projected budget gap for 2026.

Solid Waste Director Stacy Waggle presented the April 2025 five-year plan update and said the county’s Solid Waste Committee had approved the plan at its recent meeting. The board opened and closed a public hearing with no public comment and passed Resolution No. 1550 adopting the update, directing staff to submit the plan to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for review and approval.

Waggle and Finance Director Mark Seltner then reviewed the solid waste fund’s history. They reported fund balances that had fluctuated from roughly $135,000 in 2019 to a peak and then down to about $72,000 currently after equipment purchases and other expenses. Waggle noted the fund carries no balance for a dedicated solid waste building; that facility was funded through county sales tax and countywide budget allocations rather than the solid waste fund.

Staff also presented the proposed 2026 operating request for the solid waste program. Trash-haul and recycling costs have risen, and Waggle recommended budgeting $550,000 for trash services and $40,000 for recycling services for 2026, with utilities estimated at $16,000. The combined 2026 request totaled approximately $1.196 million. Seltner explained the county allocates dedicated sales tax proceeds between solid waste and joint communications dispatch based on the two programs’ combined budgets (currently roughly 50/50); using a sales-tax projection average of approximately $180,000 per month, the capped allocation for solid waste is roughly $1.08 million. If the solid-waste request is larger than the forecasted allocation, the fund could run negative late in the year if sales tax receipts fall short, Seltner said.

Commissioners asked about tonnage reporting and how heavy construction loads are recorded; Waggle said the facility tracks weights for the state reports and that the county’s dedicated sales tax was intended to eliminate tipping fees for county residents. Waggle also said the committee discussed adding a 3% cost-of-living adjustment to personnel, which would increase personnel and benefit costs beyond the presented draft.

Action taken - The board adopted the Atchison County Solid Waste Management Plan (five-year update) by resolution, recorded as passing 3–0.

Context and next steps Staff said they will submit the adopted plan to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and will continue to monitor sales-tax receipts and trash-haul costs; commissioners signaled they want to work through budget workshops to reconcile the projected 2026 request with expected dedicated sales-tax allocations.