Proposed 2021 budget of $354,684 for Colfax Solid Waste & Recycling
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling has a proposed budget of $354,684 for the first year of operation in 2021 for the Colfax and Elk Mound collection sites.
Dunn County will cease operation of the Colfax and Elk Mound sites at the end of December.
Members of the Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling Committee have agreed to keep the expenses separate for the Colfax site and the Elk Mound site, although all of the municipalities are members of Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling, and residents in any of the member municipalities can use either collection site for solid waste and recycling.
Earlier this year, with the proposed per capita for Dunn County Solid Waste and Recycling increasing from $23 per person to anywhere from $60 to $80 per person, depending on how many municipalities stayed in the program, the majority of the municipalities in the county decided to withdraw from the county program and form their own Responsible Units.
The state Department of Natural Resources requires all municipalities in Wisconsin to either be their own Responsible Unit for recycling or to join another Responsible Unit.
Per capita
The per capita on the “Colfax side” of the Colfax RU will be $28.06, and the per capita on the “Elk Mound side” of the Colfax RU will be $40.42.
Members of the Colfax RU are the Village of Colfax and the Towns of Colfax, Grant, Otter Creek, Tainter and Wilson, along with the Village of Elk Mound and the Towns of Elk Mound and Spring Brook.
The total population on the Colfax side is 6,216, and the total population on the Elk Mound side is 4,459.
The budget for the Colfax site is listed at $174,441, and the budget for the Elk Mound site is $180,243.
Assessments for the per capita for 2021 will be $30,730 for the Village of Colfax; $36,005 for the Town of Colfax; $11,000 for the Town of Grant; $13,947 for the Town of Otter Creek; $67,997 for the Town of Tainter; $14,761 for the Town of Wilson; $35,207 for the Village of Elk Mound; $78,015 for the Town of Elk Mound; and $67,020 for the Town of Spring Brook.
Permits
During December, clerks in the member municipalities will be mailing out envelopes to their residents containing permits, an information flyer and a fee schedule for non-mandated recyclables.
After January 1, recycling at the Colfax and Elk Mound sites will be “single stream,” meaning that residents will not have to sort their recyclables into separate bins.
Each household will receive two rearview-mirror hanger permits. If you do not receive your permits by the end of December, contact your local clerk.
There will be a several-week grace period in January to allow people who might not have received their permits in the mail to obtain permits to use the collection sites.
The Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling Committee decided to have rearview-mirror hanger permits because attendants working the collection sites say they are easier to verify. People have a tendency to put permit stickers in a variety of locations on their vehicle windows, making them difficult to find, but the rearview-mirror hangers are in the same location on every vehicle.
The Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling Committee intends to have contracts for the collection of the same non-mandated recyclables that are currently being collected at the Colfax and Elk Mound sites.
People who live in villages and townships in Dunn County that are not part of the Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling Program will be able to purchase permits that will allow them to use the Colfax and Elk Mound collection sites.
If you have questions about the Colfax Solid Waste and Recycling Program, call Lynn Niggemann, Colfax administrator-clerk-treasurer, at 715-962-3311.