Tipping Fees to Help Manage Landfill Expenses, Not Make WMA Self-Sustainable

Tipping fees recently implemented by the V.I. Waste Management Authority will help to manage landfill expenses, among other things, but it won’t help make the agency self-sustainable, WMA Executive Director Roger Merritt told senators this week while painting a clearer revenue picture in response to concerns about outstanding money owed to waste haulers.

Since it was split from Public Works more than a decade ago, Waste Management has been historically underfunded, though managed to get an extra $10 million in fiscal year 2021 after a supplemental budget request was partially funded by the Office of Management and Budget. Speaking to the Source Thursday, Merritt said while the initial request was for $30 million, tighter management of expenses has helped to pay off about $40 million to haulers since August of 2020, which includes another $15 million appropriated through the Legislature for Waste Management to pay off outstanding debts.

Combined with four to five million dollars saved here and there over the past year, Merritt said the agency is now caught up to within 45-days of payment, though there are two that are owed more than the rest and are working with WMA directly.