Waste Not! Carroll

From the Carroll County Times,  Tuesday, June 29, 2010

By Bruce Holstein

This is in response to Mike Evans' June 13 letter asking for debate on the facts about the incinerator.

The financial plan for the incinerator was developed by determining the amount of money the incinerator would lose and then setting a tip fee price to recover the shortfall. The plan is based on an unrealistic assumption that there is no limit on tip fees and fails to account for competitive market forces.

For example, when Carroll raised tip fees to $76 per ton, the volume of trash decreased and the county was forced to reduce the fee to $58.

The current financial plan has Carroll residents subsidizing Frederick County when the incinerator comes on-line. The projected cost to Carroll is $84.81 per ton, while Frederick County is projected at $45.11. Without Carroll as a partner to absorb 56 percent of the projected $20.4 million operating loss, Frederick County's cost would be $104.02 per ton.

Additionally, Carroll will be responsible for paying cost increases and revenue shortfalls and be forced to raise tipping fees to haulers, who will raise our trash bills.

The financial plan Carroll has adopted works like this: revenue and cost are estimated, and if the estimates are overly optimistic the amount needed from tipping fees goes up by the amount of the miss.

I suggest Carroll withdraw from the incinerator project as a partner with Frederick County because there is no benefit for us and places us at substantial long term financial risk unnecessarily. Carroll should assume the role of a county providing its' own trash to the incinerator.

My suggestion prevents Carroll from guaranteeing a $240 million 30-year loan, eliminates the subsidy to Frederick County, avoids the substantial financial risk associated with being a partner in this project and eliminates a long term commitment from Carroll County to provide 600 tons a trash per day for the next 30 years. We currently produce about 300 tons per day. The remainder of the trash will have to be secured from nearby counties.

Why make it so complicated and risky when there is a risk free and much simpler effective alternative?

The incinerator financial plan views us residents as the funding source of last resort. We are the ones who will shoulder the financial burden for the next 30 years by paying much higher trash bills. That is a fact.

Bruce Holstein

Taylorsville