County Environment Charge Summary

Your Garbage Bill May Be Changing!

If your property is located in Ramsey or Washington County, your bill will change starting in April 2003. The County Board of Commissioners from Ramsey and Washington Counties have changed the way the “Waste Management Service Charge” (WMSC) is applied and collected in their county. Ramsey County is eliminating the WMSC on the property tax statement. Washington County will reduce its homeowners WMSC on the property tax statement by $39 and business will not pay a property based charge on their tax statement. The tax has changed from a property tax based charge to a county charge collected by all haulers, based on the volume of garbage generated. The new charge will be the County Environmental Charge (CEC). Ramsey County will charge a 31% tax for residential trash and a 56% tax for non-residential trash. Washington County will charge a 34.2% tax on trash.

What types of solid waste does the CEC apply to?

The CEC applies to services to collect, rental equipment, transport process or dispose of municipal solid waste generated. The CEC will not apply to waste that is recycled or composted, including materials delivered to a source-separated organic composting facility. The CEC will not apply to waste services for construction and demolition waste, medical/infectious waste or certain types of industrial waste.

Why are the Counties changing the way they collect this money?

The County Boards decided to change the way County programs are financed to help meet environmental goals. The CEC is more visible to generators and especially generators who do not pay property taxes but do pay a garbage bill. This visibility can provide a more direct incentive to reduce and recycle waste.

What does money collected from CEC pay for?

The same environmental programs the revenues raised through the charge on the property tax statement.

In Ramsey County approximately $9.5 million is allocated to subsidize the Resource Recovery Project. Approximately $3.2 million are allocated to other solid waste programs such as household hazardous waste collection, yard waste sites, recycling, public education, business assistance, planning, solid waste regulation and general administration.

In Washington County approximately $3.5 million is allocated to subsidize the Resource Recovery Project. Approximately $1.6 million are allocated to other solid waste programs such as household hazardous waste collection, recycling grants to cities, public education, business assistance, planning, solid waste regulation and general administration.