The two-mile lines at the Scarboro Landfill would double or triple if Harford approves a proposed reduction in hours and staffing, County Council members say.
The council voted down amendments to the fiscal 2009 budget that would have reduced hours at the landfill by an hour each day and cut its weekend hours back from three Saturdays a month to two.
“I?ve been there on Saturdays with a 2 1/2-mile line. I?d hate to see it if we cut those days in half,” said Councilman Chad Shrodes, a North Harford Republican. “People who find it closed are going to dump their trash all along the road on their way back.”
The changes were necessary because the council rejected a 20 percent increase in garbage “tipping fees” in May, eliminating $1.6 million in revenues County Executive David Craig had counted on in the budget, said Lorraine Costello, Craig?s chief of administration.
The administration and council cut almost all proposed capital projects, including $350,000 toward closing the former Spencer?s Landfill, but the rest of the lost revenue had to be taken out of staffing and overtime, Costello said.
“We did everything we could before getting to salaries,” she said.
Council members said other cuts in proposed spending would be enough to cover keeping the landfill open.
But Costello said most of that spending was being drawn from the county?s General Fund ? one-time spending projects, as opposed to ongoing revenue that can be used to pay salaries.
Councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti, a Havre de Grace Democrat, said the council shouldn?t cut hours.
The council rejected the fee increase because five of the seven members didn?t feel the rise had been clearly justified by the administration, she said.
Costello said the county was trying to increase fees to a point where the landfill would pay for itself, and increasing costs drove it higher.
“Our costs are going up,” Costello said. “The taxpayers are going to pay for it, one way or another.”
