Starting at the end of January 2003, the MCMUA will be commencing a new five-year contract to manage and dispose of the solid waste delivered to the transfer stations. As part of the new contract, the MCMUA secured slightly lower operations and disposal costs and worked out an arrangement with the contractor where both parties will share paying a portion of the new $4.00/ton tax in years one and two of the contract. The good news is that the entire $4.00/ton tax will not be passed on in the form of a tipping fee increase as originally intended by the Pennsylvania surcharge.

Rather than just instituting a $4.00/ton tipping fee increase, the MCMUA worked hard to secure a system where the tipping fees will be increased in small increments over the next two years to cover the portion of the tax not being paid by the contractor. In years three and four of the contract the tipping fees will remain stable and the final year of the five-year contract the MCMUA is confident that the tipping fee should remain at the same rate but this will have to be evaluated at that time.

The old tipping fee of $76.90/ton will be raised $2.00/ton to $78.90/ton starting February 1, 2003 and remain at that rate until January 31, 2004. On February 1, 2004 the tipping fee will be raised an additional $1.00/ton to $79.90/ton where it will remain at $79.90/ton until at least January 31, 2007. While we regret having to increase the tipping fees at all, the increases being implemented are lower than the new $4.00/ton Pennsylvania surcharge, the increases are applied in two small steps to reduce the impacts on your budgets, and finally, the MCMUA has established tipping fees that are stable and predictable over the next four to five years.