It doesn’t take much of a stretch of the imagination to picture how quickly a community with no landfill services could be overwhelmed by the refuse generated by both households and commercial endeavors – to say nothing of the multitude of public health hazards that would accompany such a situation. And without action, this was a reality the residents of Nye County were not far from facing.
To stave off that possibility, the Nye County Commission has now authorized an increase in the landfill fees assessed as part of area property taxes but as officials stressed this week, that increase can only go so far. Sometime in the future, the county will have to fork out many millions of dollars for either expansion of existing landfills or the creation of brand-new ones in order to continue serving its various communities.
The resolution regarding the landfill parcel fee increase was up for discussion as part of the commission’s Tuesday, Feb. 4 meeting.
“The proposed resolution includes an increase to residential and vacant parcel fees by $5 per year [from $30 to $35]. Commercial properties will be categorized into five classes (low, medium low, medium, medium high and high). Each class will be charged a different rate per square foot with a minimum charge of $35 for each parcel,” the agenda item description detailed. “These changes aim to address the current budget deficit, ensure the continued operation of existing landfills and plan for future landfill expansions, as the Pahrump landfill is projected to reach capacity within the next 15 years.”
Aside from the Pahrump landfill, the county has dumps in Tonopah and Round Mountain, as well as transfer bin stations in Belmont, Manhattan, Amargosa Valley and Beatty, the operations of which are all funded through the Nye County Landfill Fee Fund. Until fiscal year 2021-2022, that fund had been making money and the county was able to create a “nest egg” from surplus revenue.
However, that has since changed and as Nye County Public Works Director Tom Bolling explained, the fund is now operating at a deficit. This means the nest egg the county built is being used up and by fiscal year 2027-2028, the fund was projected to require an infusion of dollars from the county’s general fund. If left as is, that fund was predicted to need as much as $1 million from the general fund by fiscal year 2029-2030.
“Something has to be done, because the money is depleting and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Bolling emphasized. “Costs go up, the CPI [Consumer Price Index] increases, everybody’s groceries went up, you name it… When they initiated this fee originally, it was enough to cover everything and put aside a little nest egg to get us to the future. Well, the future is now… So, we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do in order to continue using the landfills. Because if we can’t pay for them, we have to close them.”
Commissioner Ian Bayne asked if the public works department would need another parcel fee increase on top of the one under consideration on Feb. 4. Public works engineering technician Cody McKee replied that yes, another increase would be necessary but it would be several years until such a request is made, as the permitting process for expanding or building a landfill is quite lengthy and a design would be necessary before any other fee increase could be proposed.
“The $5 fee is fine, that gets us to where the director wants us to be so we don’t run out of money. But when the day comes that at least the Pahrump landfill is full and we have to do something different… it’s millions and millions of dollars that we’re not going to be prepared for,” commissioner John Koenig remarked.
Bayne said he understood why the item was up for a vote but for himself, he would not be voting in favor. “I would be a ‘no’ vote on raising taxes on this,” Bayne stated, adding that he would prefer to find other funding sources to fill the budgetary gaps.
Commissioner Debra Strickland, on the other hand, asserted that residents cannot expect government services to continue to be provided at the same level if taxes are never raised.
“The last time this was addressed was in 2007,” Strickland said. “We’ve been losing $250,000 a year on this landfill, we’ve done it for three consecutive years. How in the world are we going to sustain that?”
Strickland then made the motion to adopt the resolution authorizing the increase, with a second from Koenig. The motion narrowly passed 3-2 with Bayne and commission chair Ron Boskovich both opposed.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com