Fee Illegality May Change Orange County Recycling Program

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Orange County leaders may be forced to change how its recycling program is paid for.  The county says its recycling efforts have reduced trash in landfills by nearly 60 percent.  The county has been charging fees on property tax bills for the last decade to help pay for the program.  But the fee was never approved by the General Assembly.  The county manager's suggestion to privatize recycling pickup was resisted by some county commissioners. 

"When this was an issue before the county commissioners a couple of weeks ago, I was one of some who spoke and requested that the county commissioners hold off on a decision and ask for more information so that they can understand a variety of options; cost being one of those, level of service and things like that," says Jim Ward, a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Board.

Ward says the commissioners' staff is looking into those options.  Commissioners have scheduled a public comment session on the issue next month.