Landfill fee hikes likely

FINDLAY — It appears tonnage fees at the Hancock County Sanitary Landfill will likely be increasing by April. The Hancock County commissioners in recent weeks voted to increase the total charge for in-county waste from $37.75 per ton to $41.75 per ton; and increase the total charge for waste coming from outside Hancock County from $39.75 per ton to $43.75 per ton. The proposed increases stem from subcharges which fund recycling and litter prevention programs, for which costs are rising, said County Commissioner Michael Pepple. Before the increased fees would take effect, they must also be approved by legislative bodies for cities, villages and townships representing at least 60% of the county population, Ohio law states. Findlay City Council, representing the county's largest city, would have to be part of that threshold for approval, under Ohio law. The county has sent notices to Findlay, village and township officials about the rate increases, and they have a 60-day period in which to comment. The proposed rate increases are coming a year later than was projected in 2020 when county officials submitted a required five-year recycling plan to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Pepple said. "No matter how we handled (recycling), whether we kept the (former) program or we went with the all-in-one container recycling program (with Rumpke Waste & Recycling), it was projected we had to raise our tier, generation fees five years ago," he said. County officials are writing a new recycling plan for the next five years.