by Chris Littleton, Founder of Tennessee Rising
The majority of Rutherford County residents don’t think too much about waste disposal. For decades, we have not had to think about it. Unfortunately, the looming closure of Middle Point Landfill has put us in a position where we must act. We are on our way to a garbage crisis which could lead to increased costs being passed on as higher taxes.
For years, Rutherford County and many of the surrounding counties’ waste has gone to Middle Point Landfill, formerly BFI. After the closure of the county owned landfill, a private company, BFI then Republic Services, took over trash operations, providing Rutherford County residents with free disposal and host fees. However, Middle Point landfill only has a few years of life left (estimates vary depending on who you speak with) and there is currently no plan for what to do next.
Right now, elected officials are attempting to find a solution. Last year they hired a consulting firm for nearly $250k to make recommendations. The findings were criticized, mostly ignored and the county has not made any progress in solving the future waste and recycling issues. Many of the newly proposed ideas involve hauling trash to another location, which could be many miles away (increasing costs) or investing in new technology.
To date, the residents of Rutherford County have been very fortunate. For 30 years we have not had to think about trash, but the cost of trash disposal in Rutherford County is not well understood. Currently, the City of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County pay nothing for residential disposal at the landfill. And because of this, $3.3 million is saved annually. Other counties and private companies that dispose their trash at the landfill generate an additional $900,000 dollars in “host fee” revenue for Rutherford County a year. This is over $4 million that taxpayers may soon be expected to pay when the landfill closes.
So the question is – how do we pay for the upcoming closure and new disposal process? As Rutherford County residents just witnessed, changes could result in increasing our taxes and fees with no change in services.
In the past year, we have seen the City of Murfreesboro increase the trash fee from $0, to $5 to $7.50 per month, and Rutherford County is on its way to doing the same. In a Murfreesboro Post Article, Jim Crumley, who previously served as the city manager for Murfreesboro, estimated it would cost up to an additional $34 per month per user (which equates to an additional $408 per person each year) to deal with trash after Middle Point closes. $408 without knowing where or how far trash would need to be hauled??
The City of Murfreesboro already has a budget shortfall. We saw the results of short sided planning, bad management and pet projects with the 36% tax increase that just passed the Murfreesboro City Council. Rutherford County taxes are rising nearly 6% as well.
Rising taxes, rising trash fees and no plan? When is enough going to be enough?
This makes absolutely no sense. Many members of the community have been actively engaged on this issue, and a multi-million dollar problem means Rutherford County residents need to engage before elected officials create even bigger problem. If you want to engage in this issue, attend this meeting:
Date: Wednesday, July 10th
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Patterson Park Community Center
Address: 521 Mercury Blvd, Murfreesboro, TN 37130
An issue this big demands your engagement. Without residents weighing in, who knows what will happen? Link to RSVP on Facebook or share with friends.
