Beaufort Co. nixes new solid waste fee. Here’s what property owners will pay instead
Beaufort County backtracked Monday on its plan to charge property owners a user fee to drop off their trash and recycling at one of the county’s convenience centers.
Instead, residential property owners will see a separate line item on their tax bills dedicated solely to trash and recycling operations. It will not raise property taxes, however. The county will decide the millage rate each year when approving the annual budget, according to a copy of the county’s new ordinance, approved Monday night.
The millage rate is among the sweeping new changes related to the area’s nine trash dumps — where residents drop of their trash, glass, cardboard, old tires and batteries, among other items. In an attempt to cut costs and curtail illegal dumping, Beaufort County this year instituted a controversial decal system, reduced hours at all centers and closed the Pritchardville and Gate trash dumps in Bluffton and Beaufort.
It’s unclear exactly how much money homeowners will have to pay in taxes next year, as the county has not finalized its annual budget for 2022. County Council Chair Joe Passiment said the trash and recycling millage rate will likely be 5 mills, which would pay the estimated $9.2 million it costs to handle waste in the county.
The county had previously considered charging property owners a user fee (likely $169 a year), but nixed that plan. Some officials worried a blanket fee would put lower-income property owners at a disadvantage.
Taxing property owners instead of charging a flat fee allows for more equity among property owners, Passiment said. And it shows them exactly how much money they’re paying for trash and recycling — instead of it being included in the county’s total millage rate.
Reaction to the county’s changes to its trash and recycling programs has ranged from mixed to heavily criticized. Some property owners saw months of delays in receiving their decals. Others lament the disjointed way the county has rolled out the program and its mixed-messaging on how residents would pay for it.
However, some property owners say they received their decal promptly and dropped off their trash and recycling with no problems. They say any minor issues with the sites are due to the county working out kinks in a new system.
New millage rate
Last year, Beaufort County established a solid waste and recycling enterprise fund and tasked consulting firm TischlerBise Inc. with studying how much money property owners should pay for trash and recycling services.
The enterprise fund, according to county officials, sets aside an amount of taxpayer money to be used solely for trash and recycling programs. It allows for more financial transparency so property owners know exactly how much money will be dedicated to keep the convenience centers running, Chairman Passiment told a reporter.
The new millage rate, Passiment said, will not raise property owners’ taxes. It just separates trash and recycling costs from the rest of the county’s taxes, he said.
The money generated from the millage rate, according to the county’s new ordinance, will pay for the costs of “acquiring, equipping, operating, and maintaining facilities and sites for the collection, transportation, storage, handling, separation, treatment, reduction, recycling, reuse, and disposal of household solid waste” within Beaufort County.
The enterprise fund creates a separate department that’s fully devoted to issues like recycling, trash and environmental concerns, according to County Special Projects Director David Wilhelm.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
