Harford County Council Raises Fees For Solid Waste Disposal At Landfills

HAVRE DE GRACE - Last week, the Harford County Council approved a bill to increase county fees for solid waste disposal at landfills.

Bill 23-009 increases the fees for Cars and SUVs dropping off waste at landfills to $8, up from $5. Pickup trucks and small trailers will be charged $11, up from $7, and waste haulers will see an increase from $72 to $117 per ton.

Council president Patrick Vincenti introduced the legislation at the request of executive Bob Cassilly. It passed with a 5-2 vote; council members Aaron Penman and Jessica Boyle-Tsottles voted against the fee hike.

The new fees will take effect 60 days after passage of the bill, on Saturday, July 8.

During the bill discussion, Penman said he would not support the fee hikes because he sees them as a disguised tax increase.

“I’m concerned how this will impact the wallets of hardworking community members, along with the businesses across our county,” Penman said.

Boyle-Tsottles cited the same reasoning for her opposition to the bill.

“In these times of economic difficulty, we should be doing what we can to help our citizens, not imposing more financial burdens,” Boyle-Tsottles said.

Council member Jacob Bennett ultimately voted for the bill but expressed concerns about Cassilly’s opposition to raising taxes contradicting this new fee increase.

“It’s been a long time since this has been addressed. It needed to be addressed with the increased costs to the work we do to get solid waste out of Harford County,” Bennett said.