Rose Vander Schagen, who leads the finance and procurement work group in Thurston County Public Works, presented the county solid-waste revenue and six-year financial plan to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

Rose explained the program is funded by three funds (maintenance and operations, post-closure reserve and capital projects), with tipping fees comprising the largest revenue source (about 91% of the 2025 budget). She summarized projected fee adjustments for specific facilities (examples: Rainier and Rochester drop boxes and the transfer station) and said the county used a combination of fee increases and modest growth factors to build revenue estimates.

On capital work, staff reported the new compactor is installed and operational but is undergoing troubleshooting for minor hydraulic-line leaks. Matt Samuelson said the county is working with the vendor to resolve the issue and that the project team will not issue the notice of acceptance until the leaks are fixed and the warranty can be confirmed. “We did not pay for a dripping compactor,” he said.

Samuelson also described a larger reconfiguration project and a preferred delivery method: progressive design-build. He said the county has retained an owner-advisor/construction-management consultant and plans to seek approval to use alternative delivery in an upcoming application cycle; major construction activity for the reconfiguration is expected in 2027–2028 and a South County transfer station remains a later, to-be-determined project (possible 2029–2030).

Jeff (Solid Waste staff) reminded the committee that the Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing on the proposed rates and will consider final approval of the budget and rates on Dec. 16. He described the aggregate proposal as “about 13 and a half percent increase for ’26 and then another 13 and a half percent increase for ’27,” and said organics rates saw the largest individual increase because prior charges were well below cost.

Committee members discussed small-generator (business) fees (approximately $18,000 per year) and whether removing that fee for small businesses would increase compliance and safety (for example, to bring more lithium-ion batteries into proper disposal streams). Staff recommended that the solid-waste management planning process next year is the appropriate venue to analyze that proposal.

What’s next: the Board of County Commissioners is scheduled to consider final budget and rate adoption on Dec. 16; staff will continue troubleshooting the compactor under warranty and will refine the CIP and cash-flow schedule for the reconfiguration work.