Now what?

Trash picked up in Cherokee County is now brought to this transfer station at the old county-owned landfill and shipped to Union County. By all accounts, county residents have no complaints about their trash collection and disposal service. County trash trucks pick up the garbage on time and haul it to the transfer station, where Allied Waste collects it and hauls it to a landfill in Union County. And best of all, the service doesn't cost residents a dime.

However, there's one thing Allied Waste hasn't collected much of lately - tipping fees.

A tipping fee is the rate a company will charge for disposal per ton.

When it signed the contract with Cherokee County 10 years ago to operate the transfer station, Allied Waste projected it would collect and haul as much as 800 tons a day.

Because of increased recycling efforts and a loss of industrial waste due to plant closings, that number has dropped to between 175 to 220 tons of waste each day.

Making the bottom line even worse, Allied Waste essentially waived the tipping fee on residential garbage collection for the county and municipalities, charging only for commercial and industrial waste collected at the transfer station - which, on average, amounts to about 100 tons a day.

To help offset the revenue shortfall, Allied Waste has hiked its tipping fee about $1 to $1.25 each year. That fee typically takes effect on Jan. 1. But this year, Allied Waste increased its tipping fee on Dec. 1 to $44.50 a ton, a jump of $2 a ton.

Two years ago, Allied Waste also imposed a $7.50 environmental fee as well as a fuel recovery charge - a percentage of the gross amount owed that increases with the tonnage.

Last spring, the county exercised a rollover provision to extend the contract for five more years.

Since the transfer station hasn't generated the amount of trash or revenue Allied Waste projected, county officials have said they don't expect the company to bid under the current system the next time the contract is up for renewable - in 2013.

One big question still remains for Cherokee County Council if it rejects Waste Management's proposal to build a recycling center and landfill in McKowns Mountain and provide free garbage disposal for the county: How will the county dispose of its trash after its sweetheart deal with Allied Waste expires?

The county likely faces three options - construct a Subtitle D landfill, operate the transfer station with county employees and either pay a company to haul the trash to a landfill or use county workers and trucks to transport the garbage or, lastly, privatize the trash collection service.

The options would likely take a big chunk out of the county's budget, and, ultimately, necessitate a sharp rise in property taxes.

According to most industry standards, it costs about $2 million an acre to construct a subtitle D landfill.

It would be nearly as pricey if the county elects to collect and haul the trash to an out-of-county landfill. The county would likely need to purchase four or five trucks, at a cost of $150,000 each and three or four trailers with a price tag of roughly $40,000 apiece.

In addition, the county would pay the salaries of machine operators and drivers, putting the total cost of hauling the garbage at about $1 million, not including tipping fees.

Privatizing the collection service means county households would get hit with a monthly disposal fee. Spartanburg County currently charges its residents more than $40 a month. County officials have estimated county residents could expect to pay between $25 and $40 a month in sanitation fees.