The City of Janesville recently released a Request for Proposals to determine if there is private sector interest in the City’s landfill operations. At this time, there has been no determination to sell the landfill, but simply to gather information to assess the landfill’s value and determine the level of interest from potential buyers. Sale of the landfill is just one of the options the Public Works Department will thoroughly explore. This summer Public Works plans to provide a report to the Council on options for moving forward with landfill operations. A decision on the future of the landfill is anticipated in mid- to late summer, in advance of developing the 2015 City budget.
Until this year, the sanitary landfill functioned as a break-even or profitable operation within the Sanitation Fund. For many years, landfill revenues were sizeable enough to subsidize all or a portion of the City’s solid waste collection and disposal operation, and recycling programs. However, since 2008, tons of waste hauled to the City’s landfill decreased 53% and revenues decreased 37%. This was due to economic declines at the national and local levels and several changes in the regional marketplace for waste hauling and disposal. During the same period, operating expenses increased 28%. Additionally, the City’s ability to raise the disposal unit rate charged to waste haulers is limited by competitive forces. If the rate to dispose is increased above regional market rates, haulers may seek another landfill, exacerbating the revenue problem. Within the last year, the City has seen two of its larger customers move waste from the City’s landfill to other landfills in the region. As a result, the current volume of waste flow into the City’s landfill is insufficient to recover the costs of landfill operations without significantly increasing the disposal rate.
The current landfill operation is no longer self-sustaining and Public Works is exploring options to identify the model that will best protect the interests of the City’s constituents and landfill customers. In addition to exploring the option to sell the landfill, the City will study the implications of the option to close the landfill and investigate if there is a way to continue public operation of the landfill in a self-sustaining manner.
The RFP will be issued in April of 2014, and a decision regarding the landfill’s future is anticipated this summer. Please contact the City Services Center with any questions or comments at 755-3110.
