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Board Turns Trash Cash into Treasure; Supervisors Divert Portion of Recycling Program Income to General Fund

Posted on: Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Waukesha The financial rewards of a successful recycling program will be recycled next year to help hold down property taxes in Waukesha County.

Despite concerns about tapping into a program operated in partnership with individual communities, the County Board voted Tuesday to use future interest income from the recycling program surplus to cover unrelated county expenses.

Expected to free up more than $200,000 a year for the county, the measure passed on a 19-10 vote, with supervisors split on whether harnessing the funds would constitute shrewd budgeting or a questionable raid.

County staffers plan to submit another proposal soon for borrowing $2 million or more from the recycling program to offset other county expenses.

Supervisor Duane Stamsta of the Town of Merton was among those opposing the move Tuesday, saying that a $9 million surplus in the recycling program rightfully belongs to participating communities.

"This is not county money," Stamsta said.

But others defended the proposal to redirect interest earned on the surplus, which some said should be the county's reward for launching and coordinating the nearly 15-year-old recycling program.

"The county took all the risk here to put something together," Supervisor James Behrend of Delafield said. "It's our equity."

Created in 1991, the recycling program was conceived as a cooperative effort in which individual municipalities would handle local collection of recyclables and the county would process and resell all the materials.

With 25 of 37 municipalities participating, the program annually generates about 24,000 tons of aluminum, plastic, paper and other recyclables, which are in high demand on the resale market.

As manager of the program, the county shares proceeds from all sales on a 50-50 basis with a private contractor who operates the processing center in Waukesha. The county also distributes about $650,000 a year in rebates to participating communities.

Cash flows in

But cash flow has been so abundant in recent years that the program has built up a $9 million surplus, which in turn is generating more than $200,000 a year in interest. The measure approved by county supervisors Tuesday will redirect the interest income to the county's general fund starting next April.

The proposal to borrow $2 million or more for county capital projects in 2006 is expected as a separate measure in the weeks ahead.

When both proposals were divulged a few weeks ago, some municipal leaders in the recycling program voiced concern about tapping the fund for county expenses unrelated to recycling.

Supervisor Joe Marchese of Lisbon urged his County Board colleagues Tuesday to leave the surplus undisturbed in case equipment must be replaced at the recycling processing center.

"Do not touch this fund, please," Marchese said. "We might need it for something else."

Backers of the measure, however, voiced confidence that the recycling program would remain financially strong without the continued accumulation of interest income.

Rebates remain untouched

The proposal would not affect the annual rebates to municipalities, which range from about $1,500 in Chenequa and other small communities to more than $100,000 in Waukesha and Brookfield.

"This is much more than they need for the operation," Supervisor Walter Kolb of the Town of Waukesha said of the interest income.

Supervisor Patricia Haukohl of Brookfield cautioned against distributing the $9 million surplus to municipalities, warning that state budget cuts or other outside pressures could yet put new economic constraints on the county.

If the recycling program continues to prosper, Haukohl said, the county could consider increasing the yearly rebates to participating communities.

"They're really getting a pretty good deal already," she said. Referring to the rebate effort, she added: "It's like frosting on the cake."

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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