Nearly half of the costs of a $320 million waste-to-energy incinerator would be recovered by the electricity and recycled metals the plant generates, Carroll?s public works director said.
That counters claims of critics, who say the incinerator would result in higher taxes, as did one built in Montgomery County in 1995.
Mike Evans, the Carroll public works director, said the counties cannot be compared because Carroll residents hire private companies to haul their garbage, but Montgomery?s government does it directly.
Daniel Locke, Montgomery?s chief of solid waste services, said taxes were not raised to pay for his county?s incinerator.
Montgomery expects to bring in $27 million in revenue this fiscal year after selling the electricity its incinerator created, Locke wrote in a letter to Carroll commissioners.
“Our solid waste system operates on a break-even basis, as do most enterprise funds, such as water and sewer,” Locke wrote. “Fees are set to cover the county?s actual solid waste management expenses and thus are not subsidized by taxes.”
Commissioner Dean Minnich said he was more concerned about an incinerator?s effect on the environment than its cost.
“To me, there?s little question that this would probably be a financially good idea,” Minnich said.
Carroll commissioners are expected to meet with Frederick commissioners Tuesday to discuss investing together in an incinerator that would burn 1,500 tons of garbage per day — 900 from Frederick and 600 from Carroll.
Carrollofficials have also entertained the possibility of building a plant in Carroll for only the county?s garbage, the vast majority of which is trucked to out-of-state landfills.
But Evans said that the shared construction costs would be low enough to outweigh the additional revenue brought in from the increased energy that a Frederick plant would generate.
