Recycling Budget & Funding - Updated June 4, 2008

In 2007, it cost $987,805 to operate the Eau Claire County recycling program. This total includes both county expenditures as well as approximately $18,300 spent by member municipalities as part of cost sharing agreements to cover attendants' salaries. The cost per ton was $81.53 and includes tonnage for general recyclabes, brush, appliances, computers and other electronics, and waste oil

The great majority of the budget pays for contracted services for curbside recycling, the drop-off program and the brush disposal facility. Together, these programs account for 91% of the budget. The second largest expenditure is salary and benefits, which takes up 6.2% of the budget. 

The remaining 2.8% of the budget covers public education, depreciation, insurance, repairs and maintenance, and overhead costs such as office supplies, telephone, travel and training, and mailings.

Slightly over two-thirds [67.2%] of the funding for the recycling program comes from state reimbursement grants administered by the Department of Natural Resources. Statewide, the average state grant accounts for one-third of each program's funding, so Eau Claire County receives almost twice the average in state funding.

The remainder of the funding for recycling in Eau Claire County comes from two sources. In all communities except the City of Eau Claire, a special charge for recycling is assessed on the property tax bill for those properties, which have residential structures of one to four dwelling units. Because state law does not permit county government to enact such special charges, the towns, villages and cities assess them under an agreement with the county.

The City of Eau Claire chose to not sign a special charge agreement. In its place, a three-way agreement was signed between the city, the county and the recycling haulers that requires the haulers to charge their residents for recycling services at the same rate that the county charges households under the special charge.

For the 2007 tax bill, the annual charge for recycling was $8.00 per dwelling unit. Thus, a property with a single family home was charged $8.00, whereas a duplex was charged $16.00, a triplex $24.00 and a fourplex $32.00. These funds, in combination with state grants and some miscellaneous revenue sources, are what  pays for recycling in Eau Claire County, including the Clean Sweep program.  The amount of the special charge and hauler fee is reviewed annually.

services for curbside recycling, the drop-off program and the brush disposal facility. Together, these programs account for 91% of the budget. The second largest expenditure is salary and benefits, which takes up 6.2% of the budget.