Republican Dutchess County legislators recently approved extending the county’s agreement with the agency that handles its garbage and recyclables over the objections of their Democratic peers.
Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency (DCRRA) processes and disposes of solid waste in the county at a facility located near the Town of Poughkeepsie waterfront, off IBM Road. In 2005, the county paid for a $14.8 million upgrade to the facility. The capital improvements included pollution control systems to meet federal standards.
The county’s financing plan to pay for the improvements was set to expire in 2014, but in a 13-12 vote that split along party lines, legislators approved a refinancing plan that would extend payments through 2027 at a lower annual cost.
Democrats said the plan would effectively put short-term benefits of lower payments over the county’s long-term best interest. The county would have been required to pay more on an annual basis in the coming years had it not extended the contract to 2027 – annual payments of under $4 million were scheduled to jump to $7 million. Democrats said that extending the terms of financing 13 years would cost the county $8 million more than paying off the bond by 2014.
Minority leader Roger Higgins (D-Town of Poughkeepsie/Wappinger) said refinancing would place a “heavy burden on the next generation of Dutchess County residents.” Higgins proposed using the county’s fund balance, instead of extending the bond term, to lessen the burden on taxpayers. In caucus, Democrats also said they were concerned that rapidly changing technology would render the incinerators obsolete and the term of the bond would extend beyond the useful life of the plant.
But DCRRA Executive Director William Calogero said the upgrades had positioned the agency well for the future, enabling the plant to operate within industry standards for emissions.
Republicans rejected the suggestion that drawing down the fund balance could help pay for the waste facility improvements: David Kelly (R-Pawling/ Beekman/East Fishkill) said the money was required in case of emergency and was also a critical component of the county’s credit. Faced with diminishing revenues from sales taxes, Majority leader Noreen Reilly (R-Hyde Park) said the county should “err on the side of caution in protecting the pocketbooks of constituents.”