DeSoto Parish approves 2025 solid-waste budget; board debates leasing vs. buying equipment

Miss Lilly presented the DeSoto Parish 2025 solid-waste (landfill) budget and the board voted to accept it after brief discussion and questions from members. Miss Lilly said the beginning fund balance is projected at $12,529,242 and that the proposed revenue budget is about $16.37 million, with proposed expenditures near $17 million, producing a projected net decrease in the fund balance that would leave roughly $11.7 million at year-end. “The beginning fund balance as projected is $12,529,242,” Miss Lilly stated during her presentation.

Miss Lilly told the board roughly $7.2 million is tied up in a certificate of deposit (CD) that must be held for landfill post‑closure obligations and therefore cannot be used for routine operations. Speaker 7 clarified that the CD funds are held to meet Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) post-closure requirements and “cannot use that money” for other purposes. Miss Lilly said the CD renews in August and that the parish must report the CD balance to DEQ annually.

The revenue section includes a tipping-fee estimate of about $7.8 million and a sales-tax estimate lower than the current year’s budget. Miss Lilly said miscellaneous revenues and a potential late-year biomethane reimbursement are possible but not guaranteed. She also flagged an environmental-fee increase — adopted earlier this year — that raised the fee from $11.25 to $20 and drove a projected environmental-fee revenue line of about $500,000 for 2025.

On the expenditure side, Miss Lilly included a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment and step increases in payroll (she cited roughly $917,006 in salaries for a particular landfill operations line), and noted two currently vacant positions: assistant superintendent and a heavy equipment operator. She warned that contractor water-treatment costs and leachate disposal tied to a new gas facility are likely to increase costs in the coming year.

Capital spending and equipment were a focal point of the discussion. Miss Lilly listed capital purchases on the draft capital list, including an articulated truck and an excavator, and proposed purchasing eight new compactors to site across parish locations (two each at Stonewall and Logansport and others at additional parish sites). She said capital outlays spent so far total about $2.645 million through mid-September and next year’s capital budget is projected at roughly $7 million, which includes major projects such as Stonewall compactor construction and land acquisitions to support landfill expansion.

Board members pressed staff about leasing versus buying fleet vehicles and heavy equipment. Several members recounted that earlier leasing programs initially seemed advantageous but later proved costly or restrictive — a problem exacerbated by supply issues during COVID. “I will flip a coin either way still today,” the presiding official said, reflecting that the choice to lease or buy may rest with the majority preference. Some members argued the parish’s mechanics can keep vehicles running longer than anticipated, and others noted the lease terms historically prevented purchasing well‑maintained returned vehicles.

Before the vote, Miss Lilly walked the board through compactor‑site staffing, overtime projections (compactor overtime projected at $37,000; landfill overtime at $120,000 for the year), and a new overtime-control policy intended to limit excessive hours except in extraordinary storm responses. She also described a pilot program that has reactivated monitoring devices on two compactor sites to provide fill-level alerts; board members urged expanding that technology to additional sites once new compactors are installed.

The presiding official called for a motion to accept the landfill budget; a motion and second were recorded and the presiding official announced the motion passed after members verbally indicated assent. The transcript records an audible “Aye” but does not include a roll-call or numerical vote tally.

The board scheduled the next budget meeting for the following Thursday to discuss the road budget and general items, then moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter.