Financial

The goal of financing the Solid Waste Management Division in Tompkins County is to enable the development, maintenance, and sustainability of an integrated solid waste management system that facilitates recycling, composting, waste reduction and other diversion activities to the greatest extent possible. Where possible, the financing system is also designed to create incentives for diversion of materials from disposal.

This commitment is embodied in a basic financing system that relies on full-cost pricing for disposal services and user fees for recycling functions. Tompkins County has chosen to use a combination of fee-for-service (pay as you go), set aside funds (pay in advance for some future costs), and/or bonding (pay as the facility is constructed).

In 1990, with the creation of the Trash Tag program, the County shifted the financing for its solid waste system from a completely tax-based to a fee-based system. Residents pay for disposal based on the amount of waste they produce and benefit through their efforts at waste reduction and recycling. The Tompkins County trash tag program requires all residents to pay for waste disposal by weight. Residents and small businesses who place their waste at the curb purchase trash tags from their haulers who then pay the tipping fee at the landfill. Larger businesses, institutions, and those with their own dumpsters pay the waste disposal fee by volume as a part of their hauler’s bill. Until the end of 1992 all ongoing solid waste operations, programs, and administration were paid for by  users of the system. However, in 1992 some private haulers chose to take advantage of cheaper rates at unregulated neighboring landfills rather than the County’s own landfill or transfer station. There was also anecdotal evidence of an increase in illegal dumping and backyard burning in Tompkins County with the inception of the higher fee. To assure adequate revenue for 1993 the County opted for multiple revenue streams to support its solid waste program, with 90% being covered by two sources: (1) a transfer station tipping fee reflected in trash tags, and (2) an annual user fee per household/hauler, licenses, grant moneys, revenues from sale of recyclable materials, and sewage composting fees provide the remainder of revenues to balance the budget.

The annual fee helps to defray the costs of the County's Solid Waste Program, exclusive of garbage disposal.

What is the Solid Waste Annual Fee?

The annual fee pays for closing and maintaining old landfills, curbside recycling collection, the Household Hazardous Waste and Reuse programs, the capital costs of the Recycling and Solid Waste Center and solid waste administration costs.

How is my Annual Fee calculated?

Records from the County Assessment Office are used to determine the annual fee. The fees are based on a rate per unit for single family houses, two family residences, mobile homes and apartments. Non-residential properties are billed on a square footage basis.

When should I pay my Annual Fee?

The Tompkins County Solid Waste annual Fee is billed in January each year. The annual fee is property tax. It is included as a separate line item on the County property taxes and is payable with the tax.

What are the fee categories?

Residential- Single family houses, two family houses, mobile homes, apartments, multi-unit residences- $54 per unit (2008)

Recreation and warehouses- $0.0191 per square foot (2008)

Seasonal residences- $27 per unit (2008)

All other- all nonresidential buildings not listed elsewhere- $0.0386 per square foot (2008)

Colleges- fee based on a negotiated formula

No fee assessed- row storage, non-contributive areas (e.g. attics and basements), local governmental buildings, public school buildings, small churches with an average weekly attendance of twenty or fewer, uninhabitable buildings and vacant land.

Appeal of my 2009 Solid Waste Annual Fee

You may only appeal the parcel category, use classification, number of units or square footage. You may not appeal the rates or the basis for the rates in each category. If you disagree with the category, property use, number of living units or number of square feet used to calculate your fee, you may file an appeal form and return it to the Solid Waste Management Division, 122 Commercial Ave., Ithaca New York 14850, on or before May 31, 2008.

Examples of Annual Fee Exemptions are:

Senior Citizens who qualify for a real property tax exemption through the Tompkins County Assessment Office (based on age and income) will automatically receive a 50% reduction in the Solid Waste Annual Fee for the unit they occupy.

Two-family houses used as a single household may receive a reduction in their fee. The form for this exemption must be filed with the Solid Waste Management Division by April 30 of each year.

Churches with an average weekly attendance of twenty or less may obtain an exemption by filing a statement with the Solid Waste Management Division by April 30 of each year.

Seasonal residences not constructed for year-round use may receive a reduction of 50% of the unit charge. The residences must be classified by the Tompkins County Assessment Office as Seasonal. Seasonal residences will automatically be reduced 50%.

Public schools and local governments are exempt.

Vacant residences are not eligible for an exemption unless the building is deemed uninhabitable. Vacant buildings are charged a Solid Waste Annual Fee based on the potential use, rather than the actual use, of the building.