Landfill Deficit Leaves Audit Committee Looking At Options
Staff Photo by Jeff Depew
The Jefferson County Audit Committee met on Monday, November 18, 2013, in the Historic Jefferson County Courthouse. The Meeting was Called to Order by Committee Chairman Mills. All Members were present for Roll Call. Following a Motion from Committee Member Griffith and 2nd from Committee Member Jett, the Minutes from the October 21, 2013 were Approved.
The Committee heard a presentation from Waste Industries, formerly Tidi Waste, regarding options to minimize the operational costs of the Landfill. The company indicated that they would like to contract with the County, which would allow the County to mothball the current landfill for use after the Waste Industries property is filled. Representatives from the company stated that there may be a way to leave a skeleton crew at the current site and only accept the minimum of waste that is necessary to not incur the closure costs immediately. Committee Members are charged with addressing the current deficit and were concerned that funds saved, should the County enter into an agreement with an outside company, could not be used to cover that deficit due to stipulations for sanitation funds. Committee Member High stated that there is more than one issue at hand-the current deficit and covering operational costs. He said that there is a possibility that some of the development costs could be used to off set the deficit. Jefferson County Finance Director Helton stated that auditors are currently in house and that there is also a possibility that the deficit could be lowered. Some Members of the Sanitation Board were at the meeting to hear the presentation, however they were not a part of the discussion that followed.
