Nugget Project 2.0: Possible option would negate need for increasing sales tax
Submitted by admin on Tue, 08/30/2011 - 5:35pm
Now that the new Carson City Center/Nugget Project plans have answered many of the concerns of critics, one of the last big issues is the 1/8th cent increase in the sales tax to help fund the project.
But that may also be going away, replaced by fees collected from those dumping trash at the Carson City Landfill.
Shelly Aldean, member of the Carson City Board of Supervisors, recently asked city staff to look at an alternative to maxing out the city's sales tax rate. Doing so would give the city some flexibility to use that 1/8th cent remaining under the state-mandated cap for some future unforeseen need, Aldean said, such as replacing or expanding the city's wastewater treatment plant.
The idea for using fees from the landfill to fill the gap in the Nugget Project funding came about as the city was increasing fees to pay for its current budget shortfall, and as they investigated working with a vendor to increase recycling capacity.
According to City Manager Larry Werner, the city had not been raising the rates for people who take waste directly to the landfill to keep up with inflation, as the city's vendor Waste Management does for residential pickup. Werner also said the rates charged at the landfill are much lower than surrounding counties. Werner also said that a significant amount of waste coming into the landfill comes from out of the county, who would then be paying the higher fees to help with the Nugget Project.
The city also found it is able to operate the landfill with less expenses since taking over management of the facility two years ago.
In addition, their discussions with Recology about increasing recycling capacity showed they would have to increase rates to make that happen. But, if they put off that project until the future, the city would see significant savings.
Altogether, the fees from the landfill might be enough to take the place of the 1/8th cent sales tax for the Nugget Project, and 60 percent of city residents wouldn't see any changes in the money the pay to the city, according to Werner.
"We may be able to get this without raising taxes at all," Werner said. "That would be a home run."
On the downside, putting off expanded recycling could impact the life of the landfill, but Werner said it looks like the city still has 70 years left before they run out of room.
Werner cautioned they are still exploring this option, and no decision has been made. He said the issue might be discussed at the board's meeting this Thursday as it relates to raising the landfill fees, and they also plan to put the issue on the agenda for Sept. 15.
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