Beating a dead horse
Folks down in Harper County are having problems. So are we folks in Marion County. But our problems are vastly different.
Marion County is faced with a serious cash shortfall, must pay nearly a million dollars to get into the trash transfer station business so trash can be hauled 100 miles away; is also faced with a consortium of counties to finance building a local landfill that could cost another million; has a serious obligation that could cost yet another million bucks to close the former landfill near Aulne; and is being sued for millions of dollars by a firm which has a good case.
Consider all the above, realizing that Marion County is out of cash.
On the other hand, an article in the Harper Advocate reported on a meeting where citizens will gather Thursday to consider how they are going to spend the cash generated by their landfill (which Marion was offered first, and refused).
Commissioners in Harper County squarely will face the problem of "what to do with $1.2 million." The income will be generated by the landfill which not only will generate $1.2 million in host fees, but also $202,000 in new property taxes, create local employment opportunities, and provide a one-time payment of $500,000.
Marion and Harper counties have vastly different problems. We had the little red SLAM signs. They've got the $$$ signs.
— BILL MEYER
