Sandoval County commissioners are taking an efficiency-focused approach to landfill affairs.
At their Sept. 10 meeting, commissioners voted to adopt a new fee schedule for the current county landfill, as well as volume-based discounts intended to maximize use of the site before its shutdown in 2036.
Of the latter, Public Works Director Mark Hatzenbuhler told councilors that the discount for commercial customers should increase the daily tonnage of refuse brought into the landfill. He said the site was taking in 600 or so tons a year ago.
Hatzenbuhler said the total is now 750 to 800 tons a day, with the goal of getting up to about 1,100 tons.
“And the only way to get that volume in there is to offer some discounts, which … drops our price to operate,” he said. “It doesn’t cost us anymore to bury more (refuse) until we reach quite a bit more, about 1,200 tons.”
The new fee schedule, he said, reflects the landfill’s rising operating costs. The changes — mostly increases, with a few temporary reductions — take effect July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027. Hatzenbuhler said the two-step rate hikes allow his department to “slowly reach the required rates to operate and develop the solid waste landfill and provide ample notice to customers of these changes.”
Most services will go up by a dollar each year. Some will go down next year and return to their current prices in 2027.
The basic dump rate for normal waste will be $36 a ton after two $1 increases. Tire disposal will go up by $10 each of the two years and be $200 per ton in 2027.
Also at the meeting, commissioners approved a pair of bond items that will allow the county to build a new animal shelter and an emergency telecommunications tower.
County voters approved the bonds in November, financial advisor Rob Burpo said, but the process of selling them was delayed, as the county had already set aside some money for the projects.
Burpo said the delay is going to save county taxpayers about $1.2 million in interest.
The bonds will be sold either in December or January, he said, with $7.5 million for the animal shelter and $5 million for the telecommunications tower.
In his comments at the end of the meeting, Commissioner Jon Herr noted the slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and stressed the importance of free speech.
“There are a number of hot-button items in today’s society here in the United States that are triggering for people,” he said. “The First Amendment assures that anyone can freely express their opinions on these matters, even if they offend the listening audience. We don’t have to agree. We still have to be able to discuss things, or else we can’t work them out. Today, we lost the champion of free speech.”
Vice Chair Jordan Juarez and Commissioner Katherine Bruch also decried the shooting and expressed consternation about growing political violence around the country.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: 6 p.m. Sept. 24
WHERE: Commission chambers, Sandoval County Administrative Building, 1500 Idalia Road, Building D, BernalilloVirtual: www.sandovalcountynm.gov.