Guilford faces big increase in WSWMD fees

GUILFORD — Assessments are sure to rise for member municipalities through the Windham Solid Waste Management District, with Guilford's annual contribution due to head north from the current $25,451.30.

That's according to Cheryl Franklin, the town's WSWMD representative, apprising selectmen of District budget woes at the Selectboard's Oct. 28 meeting.

Franklin said WSWMD is operating at a last-reported deficit of $117,000, not including capital expenditures. Revenue in June and July was down “quite a bit,” she said, owing in part to the District losing business from Hinsdale, N.H., and likely much of Chesterfield, N.H.

“Cardboard, which they used to get a nice, clean lot of it from Triple T [Trucking of Brattleboro], is going elsewhere,” she said.

The District's recycling arm has also been collecting, sorting, “and then in some instances paying to throw away” Grade 3-5 plastics that people discard, “which is very expensive, and you only get {1/2}-cent per pound - when you can even get a market for it,” Franklin said.

The District has been weighing rate increases in its finance meetings, which Franklin said she attends. She has heard figures starting at a roughly one-third increase and now apparently settling somewhere in the 12 to 13 percent area, “though nothing is set in concrete,” she cautioned.

The hike is needed in part, she continued, as the District's liquid assets fell from $283,000 in June 2012 to a mere $6,400 by the end of September 2013.

“It is very difficult to plan a budget when you don't know what the markets are going to do,” put in Board member Anne Rider, who added, “This is going to be continual. This is not a momentary blip on the screen; it sounds as though this is not going to get better.”

“No, it's not,” Franklin agreed.

Selectmen also discussed the need for the District to raise revenue through other means, and agreed that an increase in sticker prices and bag fees was warranted.

Franklin explained that she proposed that during the finance meeting, and it's in the works - though not until July 1 of next year.

“I'm like, 'You're already in the red. Let's bring it up now and play some catch-up,' but they didn't want to. I'm only one vote,” she said.

Franklin continued: “They're limited on assessments based on their own charter, so I don't know if they can come up with something creative that will be able to collect that.”

Also discussed on the subject at the Selectboard meeting:

• The District is maintaining its compost collection and processing through winter, but will have to look for equipment to grind and sift it: another expense.

• The District doesn't know whether it can afford to keep a capital line in the budget next year, as that makes assessments increase.

• The Selectboard and Franklin acknowledged a disparity in assessments, which are based on population, as trucking, they said, represents 70 percent of the cost to towns.

Brattleboro, Guilford, Dummerston, and Putney, they said, could be subsidizing smaller member towns that are much further away.

Windham Solid Waste Management District, Southeastern Vermont's recycling and solid waste management center, is located at 327 Old Ferry Rd., Brattleboro.

The WSWMD is a public entity formed by charter through the state of Vermont in 1988. It is composed of 19 towns that have joined together to manage their solid waste.

At present, the WSWMD manages the only publicly owned and operated materials recovery facility in the state.

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