Paying More For Trash

San Andreas, CA – Calaveras County residents may soon have to decide if it’s worth more money to take their garbage to the dump. The increase would be $42 extra dollars a year.

Currently, homeowners pay $150 dollars a year to use the landfills and transfer stations, but the County says it needs $192 dollars a year to keep the system running.

Calaveras County Public Works Director Tom Garcia says the cost to operate state-mandated recycling programs continues to grow and only $10 of that money is supposed to go to pay for recycling. Garcia says “We can’t continue to keep taking more from the fee to pay recycling costs.” He adds “The alternative is to shut down six transfer stations in the county and just keep open the Rock Creek Landfill and that is not a good option for the county or the residents.”

Under state law, fees for government-provided services can only be increased with a majority vote in an election.