Park County's landfills will need significantly more money in coming years, county officials said last week.At a Nov. 17 meeting with Powell, Cody, and Meeteetse officials, Park County commissioners said the landfill budget is projected to have a $4.5 million deficit by 2015 if nothing is changed between now and then.

Changes suggested at the meeting included raising tipping fees, tapping county reserves and seeking funds from the Wyoming Legislature.

State water quality regulations required a slew of improvements to the county's landfills in recent years. The regulations generally require landfills to be lined and monitored for leaks.

In a multi-year study, the county found upgrading the sites in Powell, Clark and Meeteetse to meet the new standards was cost-prohibitive, and county officials opted to build one regional, lined facility in Cody.

Powell and Clark landfills are scheduled to close in the fall of 2012, and Meeteetse's landfill closed at the end of June.

The upgrades and closures are scheduled to tally some $61 million over 20 years.

Initial plans called for raising tipping fees to around $114 per ton to start meeting those costs, but commissioners felt that was too much and opted for phased increases. Rates were raised from $60 per ton to $90 last year, and they are slated to go up 8 percent every five years.

At last week's meeting, Commission Chairwoman Jill Shockley Siggins and other county officials said the lower rate structure is estimated to leave the landfill $4.5 million short of $7 million worth of landfill closure costs (in Powell, Meeteetse, Clark and parts of Cody) by 2015.

Siggins suggested tipping fees should go up sooner to meet the deficit.

“We're telling you it (the tipping fee) should be $124 a ton,” Siggins said to Powell, Cody and Meeteetse representatives. She suggested the municipalities tear up the recently-signed, $90-per-ton garbage disposal contracts with the county for the coming year, put on their “big boy pants” and sign new contracts at $124 a ton.

“Let's get to what we know is real and quit playing with the $90,” Siggins said.

Powell City Councilman Jim Hillberry expressed concern that a large jump in garbage rates would increase illegal dumping.

Commissioner Tim French said the concern with illegal dumping was part of the reason the county didn't implement the full hike last year.

Powell City Councilman John Wetzel noted that earlier this year, the municipalities proposed paying for the landfill improvements with a capital facilities tax. That idea was opposed by a majority of the commission.

French, who opposed a landfill tax as too costly and as a bad idea in the rough economic climate, noted that county voters soundly rejected a capital facilities tax proposed by West Park Hospital.

Hillberry suggested the county use its roughly $12 million of general reserves to meet the deficit, calling it a crisis that justified using rainy day funds.

Siggins, however, said the county could easily spend all the money on a variety of issues and French noted that the county's auditor has advised the commission to keep around $12 million on hand.

“Hopefully we can get some millions,” French said.

Commissioner Bucky Hall said the state Legislature needs to hear loud and clear that the counties and municipalities need money to help close their landfills.

“They need to hear it until they're sick of it, and then they need to hear it again,” Hall said.

However, Powell City Councilman-elect Myron Heny cautioned that dozens of leaky landfills around the state are in need of remediation and will likely take funding priority. He said those landfill clean-up projects are estimated to cost some $228 million.

In an interview after the meeting, French said he would be willing to tap into the county's reserves if that was necessary.