Refuse District Faces Deepening Financial Woes

By MANDY LOCKE

Financial difficulties again dominated discussion at the
Martha's Vineyard Refuse Disposal and Resource Recovery District
meeting as committee members tried to find ways to climb out of a hole
half a million dollars deep.

Representatives acknowledged last Thursday afternoon that moving out
of the red depends on whether voters in each of its four member towns
allow the district to secure a $1.5 million long-term bond to cover both
outstanding bills and upcoming capital projects. Such a bond would
supplement the $3 million bond approved in September 2000.

How Edgartown, West Tisbury, Chilmark and Aquinnah would receive a
request to absorb $4.5 million in capital expenses over the next 14
years is uncertain.

"I think you are in danger of towns turning you down,"
said Edgartown representative Larry Mercier.

Committee members of the four-town district took a hard look at the
district's finances last month after discovering an unpaid balance
of $250,000 to SEMASS, the Rochester company that handles the
district's municipal waste. The district has also racked up an
additional $45,000 in finance charges on late payments since 1999.

A short explanation of the budget problems is found in the long list
of unexpected expenses. The district has attempted to absorb on a
bare-bones budget unforeseen extras ranging from bird studies and
landscaping to legal fees and an over-budget transfer station.

Many of those expenses, some committee members argue, came in the
form of mandates from federal, state, regional and local boards.

To chip away at $350,000 in capital expenses incurred in recent
years, district manager Charles Noonan used $40,000 in excess
operational income and money that was budgeted for handling costs.

District bylaws stipulate that charges to town residents delivering
trash must not be used to turn a profit, and that member towns are
responsible for capital expenditures.

Despite the financial difficulties, West Tisbury representative
Peter Marzbanian said that charges of poor planning were unwarranted in
light of what he suggested were unforeseeable costs.

"How many [items] on this laundry list could we have
planned?" he asked. "Next to none. You can only plan so
much."

The committee did not determine on Thursday afternoon if the matter
could wait to be resolved until annual town meetings in April 2003. If
not, the district may ask towns to call special town meetings before
then to approve issuing a bond to address the mounting debt.

In the meantime, the district is securing a $125,000 revenue
anticipation loan to help pay its debt to SEMASS. With the new fiscal
year beginning on July 1, assessments from the town will roll into the
district's account to help pay the balance at SEMASS.

The proceeds from any bond the towns are asked to approve would
cover upcoming expenses such as engineering costs for a construction and
demolition debris handling facility and the closure of the Chilmark
landfill and remaining portions of the Edgartown landfill.

To avoid a similar mess in the future, committee chairman Richard
Skidmore suggested tacking on some extra money to estimated capital
expenditures when designing the budget in order to handle unanticipated
overages.

"We are always making a bare-bones budget," he said.
"Tack another $500,000 onto the $1.5 million. Until we bite the
bullet and get some padding, we can't respond responsibly."

Mr. Mercier questioned the legality of that but suggested getting
bids for upcoming projects before estimating an amount in the district
budget.

In other district business, Mr. Noonan announced the price per
barrel of household trash will be increased from $3.75 to $4 at the
transfer station in Edgartown to help the district close in on price
increases by the handler. The even dollar also makes calculating change
easier for attendants.

The towns of Chilmark, Aquinnah and West Tisbury - who each
run their own dump - can set prices as they wish.

District members also voted for Mr. Noonan to study ways the
district can eliminate the acceptance of cash at the dumps altogether.

"We're running a multimillion business on $3.75 coupons
and cash," said Chilmark member Michael Renahan. "It's
absurd."