Public works seeks fee increases to shore up landfill and recycling enterprise fund

Jessica Montgomery, Surry County public works director, told county commissioners on March 2025 that the county’s landfill enterprise fund faces a budget shortfall driven by unchanged tipping fees since 2019, volatile recycling revenues and scheduled debt service on the new landfill cell and scale house.

Montgomery presented an enterprise‑fund spreadsheet showing the landfill debt service (principal and interest totaling about $796,558 in the 2026 requested column), a projected revenue shortfall of roughly $500,000 and declining recycling income. She said the county has not adjusted tipping fees since July 2019 and proposed increasing the tipping fee at the scales from $45 to $50, and increasing the “landfill fee” charged via property tax from $50 to $62. Montgomery estimated the tipping fee change would raise roughly $200,000 and the landfill fee change about $350,000 annually—together covering the projected shortfall.

Montgomery said the landfill enterprise currently funds both landfill and recycling (12 convenience/recycling sites) and carries significant operating costs: the county runs 12 sites at more than $1 million annually. She and a North Carolina Association of County Commissioners analyst recommended discontinuing routine use of fund balance to balance the enterprise fund and instead cover operations with fees so the enterprise fund can build reserves for capital needs. Montgomery said the county has not historically accepted out‑of‑county waste and that accepting external waste would increase revenue but shorten landfill life.

Commissioners asked about phased fee increases and alternatives such as reducing recycling center hours or consolidating sites; Montgomery said a typical county the size of Surry operates five to seven sites and that Surry currently operates 12, so consolidation or reduced hours could be considered to save operating costs. She also noted recycling market prices for commodities—cardboard, plastics—have fallen substantially and that the county cannot charge for tire disposal under state rules, leaving the county to absorb roughly $50,000–$60,000 annually for tire costs.

Montgomery said gas‑to‑energy revenue from landfill methane has dipped because the gas operator took on rebuilding costs; she is monitoring the operator’s quarterly reports and expects methane capture and non‑revenue benefits (odor control, methane management) to continue. The county’s current landfill cell is projected to have roughly 20 years of capacity under present trends, with design work for the next cell needed in about a decade.

Montgomery asked commissioners to consider the proposed fee adjustments and said staff will return with options that phase increases and examine recycling‑center consolidation and hours.