Washington County May Spend $47,000 for Waste Disposal
By DON BEHM
West Bend The Washington County Board next week will be asked to spend up to $47,503 in property tax dollars from the county’s general fund to pay for disposing a record volume of hazardous household wastes collected from residents in September.
Though the county’s Land and Water Conservation Division had budgeted $52,750 for disposing farm and household wastes collected on Sept. 23 and 24, the final cost of the Clean Sweep program was $100,253, or nearly double its budget, officials said.
The budget did not stand up to an unexpected crowd of 652 homeowners who showed up on Sept. 24 with 48,555 pounds of wastes, County Administrative Coordinator Doug Johnson said. At least one participant came from every city, village and town in the county.
The 2005 record volume was the most hazardous waste collected at any of the single-day residential Clean Sweeps serving 48 counties and municipalities in Wisconsin this year, according to Roger Springman, Wisconsin Clean Sweep program manager for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in Madison. The materials included unused pesticides, old gasoline, batteries, lead paint, mercury-containing thermostats, fluorescent tubes, solvents and other chemicals.
Nearly two dozen county farmers dropped off 5,877 pounds of hazardous waste on Sept. 23.
This year, the state agriculture department had awarded two grants at a total of $27,000 to Washington County to pay for both the household and agricultural waste collections and combined advertising and mailing costs, said Stephanie Hofmann, a technician with the Land and Water Conservation Division. The county contributed $25,750 in staff time.
But the grants fell $47,503 short of the program’s final costs and the county has requested additional state funds to pay for the shortfall, Hofmann said.
On Wednesday, the County Board’s Finance Committee recommended board approval of a plan to spend up to $47,503 from the general fund should the state deny the request.
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