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Revenue for transfer station dips
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BRODHEAD - The projected 2017 budget for the Green County Transfer Station asserts 2016 will be a negative year for the facility, though landfill manager Randy Thompson said it could be worse.

"We're holding our own," Thompson said following the Solid Waste Management Board meeting on Wednesday.

In the outlined numbers, 2016 has fallen short of expectations. Total revenue in the 2016 budget was set just under $927,000 and expenditures at $898,000, but projections for the year show revenue will lag at $801,000 while expenditures will be $924,000. Within the projected budget, the $123,000 drop will be covered with an anticipated $124,000 from the tax levy. The first six months of this year have shown $356,000 in revenue with $428,500 in expenditures for the transfer station.

The 2017 soft numbers indicate $813,400 in revenue and $789,800 in expenses, a 12-percent decrease from this year.

Thompson said he was unsure how including non-members would affect budget numbers and had decided against including any projection in next year's budget because of that uncertainty.

On July 14, the board held a special meeting and agreed to allow residents from non-member municipalities use the transfer station once again. After the City of Monroe abandoned its membership in January 2015, city residents continued to use the transfer station as non-members at a slightly higher rate of $45 per ton of waste. On Dec. 1, the transfer station closed its doors to all non-member use after negotiations between the city and the facility failed.

The last six months of 2016 should see an increase in use from those members, who frequently requested being allowed to use the facility again, according to landfill staff.

Thompson said there was also a bit of cost savings with a change in personnel. A 13-year employee resigned from the facility and was replaced with a new worker, equaling about $22,000 in savings within the next year.

Chairman Richard Vogel said the municipality charges should stay roughly the same.

A bit of a hit to anticipated revenue for the station was the lack of agriculture plastic, or silage bags, which had been offered to the transfer station by a group of collectors to break down into small parcels. The transfer station agreed to take in the material at roughly 3 cents per pound. Thompson said the haulers had promised a semi load per day, but had used the transfer station less than half of each month after the non-contractual arrangement was made.

Board members agreed unanimously to recommend the projected 2017 budget to the Green County Board for its approval.