Marion County to seek increase of solid waste fees by 150%

File photo: A Waste Pro worker dumps a load of garbage in the transfer station at the Marion County Landfill and Transfer Station on Southeast Baseline Road in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, August 10, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

Solid waste fees for Marion County residents will likely increase from $87 to $215 in 2026.

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners approved an ordinance on March 5 to seek a one-time increase in the solid waste fees in an effort to increase solid waste reserves in case of emergency and to expand landfill space.

If approved in the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget in September, residents will see a 150% increase in their solid waste assessment rate per year.

The commission approved the new ordinance at a March 5 public hearing, amending the ordinance originally introduced in 2007. Previously, the rate was set at $87 in 2007 and was intended to see a consumer price increase of 1.5x per year.

The new ordinance “includes setting an initial Solid Waste Residential Assessment rate at $215 with adjustment of the maximum cap of the assessment to $225.  It also eliminates the language requiring annual CPI increases and allows adjustments to be made annually by resolution as needed,” according to the county.

The rate increase was necessary because the county didn’t need to increase the rate annually since 2007 as intended in the ordinance, because of a 2012 purchase of landfill capacity at the Bushnell landfill in Sumter County. Marion County prepaid for 2.5 million tons of capacity in the landfill before it was built, at a rate of $8 per ton, said Commission Chair Kathy Bryant.

“That is what has allowed us to save over $100 million from that point to now,” Bryant said. “Had we not purchased that capacity, and we had done that 1.5 CPI increase through the years, today, we would be sitting at $263.77 for our residential assessment.”

From 2026 until 2035, the rate will remain at $215. Then, the rate may increase to $255, but “accelerated landfill expansion and sale of airspace could result in a $5 to $15 decrease to the rate after 2035,” according to the county.

The county’s solid waste reserves currently are at about $8.6 million. In the event of an environmental catastrophe, this may not be enough to cover costs for storm damage, debris cleanup and other potential effects.

In 2017, Hurricane Irma cost the county about $25 million. The county calculated how much a storm of that level would cost now, considering inflation, and recommended that solid waste keep reserve funding of $40 million going forward in case an emergency occurred.

Commissioners favored a one-time rate increase rather than a passed-in approach, so that storm reserves could be immediately increased, and the county can ensure it will be able to provide citizens their obliged duties in the case of a hurricane or disaster.

If the phased approach was pursued, the rate would have increased to $150 in 2026, then raising the rate to $190 in 2027, and $225 in 2028, with the rate finally moving to $255 in 2036.

Now, residents can expect their annual solid waste assessment rate to be at $215 in 2026 until further notice.