Cochise County staff say recycling volatility and rising equipment costs make a tipping-fee increase likely

Public Works Director Jason Fosseo told the Cochise County Board of Supervisors at a Dec. 2 work session that the county will likely need to raise solid-waste tipping fees to cover rising operations and equipment-replacement costs.

Fosseo said the county currently charges $64 per ton at its facilities and that, after accounting for payroll, operations and a strained equipment-replacement line, the fund—s margin has narrowed. "We're not putting enough away for our heavy fleet equipment replacement," he said, adding the county previously budgeted about $325,000 annually for fleet replacements and now needs roughly $425,000 a year to buy comparable equipment.

The nut of Fosseo—s presentation was a set of multi-year budget models the Rate Review Advisory Board (RAB) asked staff to prepare. One scenario modeled a $68-per-ton tipping fee and showed the fund in surplus through several years; other scenarios tested smaller $1—1 increments and a larger move toward $70 per ton. Fosseo said recycling revenues have historically helped offset costs but are unstable: "Recycling costs more," he said, and the county must assume conservative recycling revenues when planning.

Fosseo also identified regulatory and indirect charges as part of the cost picture, noting Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) permitting and emissions compliance are folded into the landfill's expense lines but are not separately broken out on the summary sheet. "It's rolled in," he said, adding that staff could not immediately specify the exact ADEQ share of the per-ton charge.

Board members pressed for clarity on how a modest per-truck increase (the county's $7-per-truck rural sites) or a per-ton move would affect residents and city partners. Fosseo warned a $1 increase on the small truckload line would be noticeable to rural users but generate limited revenue compared with the per-ton adjustment that most affects urban sites. He said staff will run reports to quantify those effects before the board votes.

Fosseo emphasized operational improvements that have helped extend landfill life, including a new compactor and improved compaction metrics (he reported about 1,062 pounds per QPR against a common Arizona benchmark near 900). "Over the last 10 years, we should have added roughly at least 5 to 10 years to the landfill," he said.

No formal action was taken at the work session. Fosseo said the RAB will review the scenarios and make a recommendation to the board, and the county will present detailed numbers on how different fee options would affect transfer stations, cities and residents at a future meeting.