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Safford council gives staff direction to formalize landfill fee waivers for two longtime nonprofits
Summary
Council reviewed long‑standing, uncodified waivers of landfill tipping fees for GCRC (2009) and St. Vincent de Paul (2011), heard November usage figures (about $2,000 and about $200), and directed staff to draft a resolution continuing waivers through June 30, 2025 while moving future support into the city’s donation program.
The Safford City Council on January 27 reviewed a years‑long practice of waiving landfill tipping fees for two local nonprofit organizations and directed staff to bring a resolution to continue the practice through the end of the fiscal year while shifting future requests into the city’s formal donation process.
Troy Bingham, the city finance director, told the council that new landfill software showed the bill for November was “a little over $2,000” for GCRC and “a little under $200” for St. Vincent de Paul. He said the city lacks complete historical records describing why the waivers were originally granted (2009 for GCRC; 2011 for St. Vincent de Paul) and that uncapped waivers can create unpredictable liabilities for the landfill fund.
Council and staff discussed options for transparency and fairness. Staff and council members said placing nonprofit support requests into the city’s existing $100,000 donation program would allow a capped, documented process with application deadlines and clearer criteria, rather than continuing open, uncodified waivers.
Council members broadly agreed with a staff plan to draft a resolution that would: continue the current waiver practice through June 30, 2025 to allow time to gather usage data from the new software; notify GCRC and St. Vincent de Paul of the forthcoming change; and, for future support, require nonprofits to apply through the city’s donation program so any assistance is budgeted and capped.
The guidance stops short of an immediate termination of the waivers; staff said they will return with a formal resolution and more complete dollar totals once the software tracks a longer sample of activity. Council discussion also noted that landfill operations are a self‑sustaining fund and that waived fees shift costs to other users if not otherwise budgeted.
Next steps: staff will prepare a resolution to carry the waivers through June 30, 2025, notify the two nonprofits, and report back with tracked usage and recommended donation‑program criteria.
