Nye County is considering tossing out dump fees for residential users.

Last summer, Nye County established new tipping fees at each of its landfills and residential users have been less than welcoming of the change.

Despite regular household trash remaining free to dump, items such as furniture and appliances now come with a charge and yard waste, such as weeds, leaves and tree clippings, can only be dumped for free on Saturdays. Any mixed loads are assessed the highest fee based on load material. This has led to frustration among the public and as a result, county officials are preparing to chuck the fees impacting residents who utilize the landfill.

During the Tuesday, April 4 Nye County Commission meeting, commissioner Ian Bayne, citing a rise in trash strewn around town, brought forward a proposal to repeal a resolution that was approved in early 2025. This was the resolution that instituted the new residential user fee structure as well as changing the fees for other users, such as commercial and out-of-county. The resolution also raised the fee assessed on local properties by $5 per unit.

However, because of the property tax assessment, repealing that 2025 resolution would not be an easy action and would result in serious financial consequences.

“This is a highly weighted item,” Nye County Public Works Director Tom Bolling told the board that afternoon. “We’ll talk about the sheer economics of it to start with. We would have to refund all of the added assessed fees to every parcel in Nye County, if it was repealed immediately.”

Nye County Assessor Sheree Stringer confirmed this, explaining, “We’re looking at almost 58,000 parcels that would have to be refunded. So, we are looking at literally $569,917.21 that would be refunded this year.”

“Oh, hell no,” commission chair Ron Boskovich interjected.

“And that doesn’t include the labor it costs to do that,” Bolling added, with Stringer reporting that the cost to process the refunds would come to around $900,000.

Aside from the immediate financial impact, Bolling explained that the new landfill tipping fees had been established to help stave off the budgetary problems that the Nye County Landfill Fund has seen in recent years.

Over several of the last few fiscal cycles, the cost to operate the county’s landfills - of which there are three - has exceeded the revenue produced by tipping fees and the landfill fee assessed on property taxes. This means the fund has steadily been eating away at its end fund balance and without additional revenue being generated, at some point the fund will need to be augmented by the already-strained Nye County General Fund or else, one or more landfills be closed.

The landfill fund’s dire need for additional funding notwithstanding, Bolling then explained that Bayne had gotten ahead of the public works department on this particular issue. He said his team was already working on a new resolution to amend the 2025 resolution, which would eliminate residential user fees altogether.

“Because that is ultimately the idea and the premise behind this, if I’m not mistaken. You’re just trying to keep the residents from having to pay so they don’t go dump their trash [illegally],” Bolling stated.

“That’s right. What you brought us last year was forcing residents to pay,” Bayne responded, noting that he had voted against that action. “And that’s at the heart of this… My concern is that we have people who are spending money to dump things at the dump and we don’t want to do that, because it’s creating garbage everywhere.”

Bayne then pointedly asked what had prompted the 2025 resolution in the first place. Bolling reiterated that the landfill fund is not sustaining itself and additional revenues were needed.

“So, you changed your mind because?” Bayne pressed.

“Because of the public response,” Bolling replied.

He went on to explain that the new resolution is aimed at eliminating charges for Nye County residents only. “That means that commercial and everything else would stay in effect… Anyone who takes something to our landfill, commercially and industrially, would have to pay tipping fees. The residents would not,” Bolling emphasized.

“If somebody shows up and they’ve got a pickup truck with an old bed frame in it and a mattress and an alarm clock and a couple of tables, they’ll just come in, they won’t have to pay if they show their ID,” Bayne clarified, to which Bolling agreed, stating, “That’s the idea.”

Bayne asked how long it would take for the new resolution to be presented. Bolling explained that it could take around a month, as his department has to work through the financial figures before moving forward.

“I’m completely on board with Ian’s issue on this,” Boskovich remarked as the item came to a close. “So, as quickly as you can get it back, let’s do it.”

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com