TAYLOR - Taylor's falling revenue from the Alliance Sanitary Landfill is a sign of the times, economically speaking, landfill officials say.
If people are buying less, then people consume less and create less waste, said Alliance spokesman John Hambrose.
"Take a look at it since 2007," Mr. Hambrose said. "Then you can see where the economy had its impact."
According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, garbage brought into Alliance in 2007 and in years previous hovered around 450,000 tons.
That number dropped off steeply to 287,480 tons in 2008 and continued to fall in 2009 and 2010 to nearly the 100,000-ton mark.
Since 2011, Taylor has received $1.90 for each ton brought into the landfill instead of the guaranteed minimum payment of $1.35 million it received for years, forcing it to supplement the resulting difference from savings and, now, potentially a property tax for 2013.
Ransom Twp. Supervisor Dennis Macheska said he's noticed revenue decrease from the landfill, but the township receives a guaranteed minimum payment of $500,000 from Alliance each year.
Old Forge Borough Manager MaryLynn Bartoletti said the borough has seen steady figures with Alliance, but added its agreement with the landfill only began in 2011.
Tonnage has also dropped off in recent years due to the uncertainty of having a highly contested expansion permit approved, Mr. Hambrose said. The permit was approved in 2010 and the landfill expects to have the first part of the expansion completed sometime next year.
"In the last 10 years, we were awaiting expansion," Mr. Hambrose said. "You have been slowly filling up space with no assurance; trying to ration intake to make sure we didn't run out of space."
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter