Investigation: Snohomish Co biz owners bypassing trash fees
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. -- Higher garbage rates and lost jobs -- those are just some of the consequences a KOMO News investigation dug up in Snohomish County.
The investigation found that taxpayers are paying millions while some local businesses are thumbing their noses at garbage laws.
Here's how it's supposed to work. People and businesses pay Snohomish County to dump their garbage at one of three county transfer stations. And that money pays for the county's solid waste system.
But when KOMO News began digging into the county's garbage, we found United Recycling and several other local recyclers skirting the local law.
After separating everything sellable from the waste, what's left over, according to county law, is supposed to be dumped at a county transfer station at $105 a ton. But KOMO's undercover surveillance caught recyclers bypassing the county and the county's fees, shipping the waste directly to landfills in south central Washington.
"Any amount of garbage that leaves the county compromises the system," said Snohomish County Solid Waste Director Matt Zybas. A 2005 county law imposed stiff penalties for dumping garbage anywhere but a county transfer station.
"It's very important," Zybas said. "It helps to maintain the integrity of the system and funding for the programs that we have."
Recycler Dan McAuliffe has a different take.
"It's all about money," he said. Talking about the county, McAuliffe said, "They need more money to fill the gaps and holes that they've created."
McAuliffe's United Recycling charges customers about a third less than Snohomish County for construction debris. That's perfectly legitimate. But McAuliffe openly admits to what KOMO cameras captured -- that his leftover garbage goes to the Everett rail yard, and eventually a landfill in south central Washington.
To dump it, he pays less than half what the county would charge. When asked about the county law, McAuliffe replied, "No, the law shouldn't apply to a recycler trying to do the right thing."
McAuliffe's brother, Tony McAuliffe, runs a smaller recycling operation nearby. He trucks his leftover garbage directly to a landfill in Klickitat County at a much cheaper rate.
"The charge that the county is charging is very, very high, when we could take it to the same facility for the same price that they pay," said Paul Glass, Tony McAuliffe's project coordinator.
Neither company believes it's breaking the law.
"Yeah, it's a bad law. Why should I have to pay for their mistakes?" said Dan McAuliffe.
Sources told KOMO News this practice is costing Snohomish County $6 million to $12 million a year in lost revenue. KOMO News has obtained documents showing the county put the McAuliffe brothers and at least two other recyclers on notice last spring that sheriff's deputies were enforcing the law.
Yet, the county has not written a single ticket.
"No one has been fined or cited," said Zybas. When asked why not, Zybas said, "Well, as we were going through the process, we've had multiple meetings with both the recyclers, the haulers and the general public about the rule-making or enforcement of flow control."
And when KOMO News asked whether the recyclers were breaking the law, Zybas' only response was a shrug.
But Ed Rubatino, president of Rubatino Refuse of Everett, doesn't mince words.
"I mean, to me, it's grand larceny," he said.
Rubatino said it's not fair to businesses who obey the law and pay the county's fees.
"My belief is they should have been writing tickets the first time they saw a truck go there," said Rubatino.
And the county's lost revenue may have cost more than 30 people their jobs.
When asked if those millions lost would have made a difference in terms of those layoffs, Zybas said, "Absolutely." And asked if it might have saved jobs, he said, "Yeah."
And while they lose millions by not enforcing the law, the county has raised its dump fees nearly 18 percent to make up the shortfall -- higher fees which Rubatino and other garbage haulers have to pay, and higher fees the McAuliffes and others avoid by bypassing the county dump sites, adding to Rubatino's ire.
"As far as I'm concerned, they ought to be billed all those back years for the money that they didn't pay the county," said Rubatino.
The county assured KOMO News it will start enforcing the fines and penalties soon, but officials can't say exactly when. And what's the average Snohomish County homeowner paying for all this? According to the state Utilities and Transportation Commission, the average increase per garbage customer was $33.17 a year.
The investigation found that taxpayers are paying millions while some local businesses are thumbing their noses at garbage laws.
Here's how it's supposed to work. People and businesses pay Snohomish County to dump their garbage at one of three county transfer stations. And that money pays for the county's solid waste system.
But when KOMO News began digging into the county's garbage, we found United Recycling and several other local recyclers skirting the local law.
After separating everything sellable from the waste, what's left over, according to county law, is supposed to be dumped at a county transfer station at $105 a ton. But KOMO's undercover surveillance caught recyclers bypassing the county and the county's fees, shipping the waste directly to landfills in south central Washington.
"Any amount of garbage that leaves the county compromises the system," said Snohomish County Solid Waste Director Matt Zybas. A 2005 county law imposed stiff penalties for dumping garbage anywhere but a county transfer station.
"It's very important," Zybas said. "It helps to maintain the integrity of the system and funding for the programs that we have."
Recycler Dan McAuliffe has a different take.
"It's all about money," he said. Talking about the county, McAuliffe said, "They need more money to fill the gaps and holes that they've created."
McAuliffe's United Recycling charges customers about a third less than Snohomish County for construction debris. That's perfectly legitimate. But McAuliffe openly admits to what KOMO cameras captured -- that his leftover garbage goes to the Everett rail yard, and eventually a landfill in south central Washington.
To dump it, he pays less than half what the county would charge. When asked about the county law, McAuliffe replied, "No, the law shouldn't apply to a recycler trying to do the right thing."
McAuliffe's brother, Tony McAuliffe, runs a smaller recycling operation nearby. He trucks his leftover garbage directly to a landfill in Klickitat County at a much cheaper rate.
"The charge that the county is charging is very, very high, when we could take it to the same facility for the same price that they pay," said Paul Glass, Tony McAuliffe's project coordinator.
Neither company believes it's breaking the law.
"Yeah, it's a bad law. Why should I have to pay for their mistakes?" said Dan McAuliffe.
Sources told KOMO News this practice is costing Snohomish County $6 million to $12 million a year in lost revenue. KOMO News has obtained documents showing the county put the McAuliffe brothers and at least two other recyclers on notice last spring that sheriff's deputies were enforcing the law.
Yet, the county has not written a single ticket.
"No one has been fined or cited," said Zybas. When asked why not, Zybas said, "Well, as we were going through the process, we've had multiple meetings with both the recyclers, the haulers and the general public about the rule-making or enforcement of flow control."
And when KOMO News asked whether the recyclers were breaking the law, Zybas' only response was a shrug.
But Ed Rubatino, president of Rubatino Refuse of Everett, doesn't mince words.
"I mean, to me, it's grand larceny," he said.
Rubatino said it's not fair to businesses who obey the law and pay the county's fees.
"My belief is they should have been writing tickets the first time they saw a truck go there," said Rubatino.
And the county's lost revenue may have cost more than 30 people their jobs.
When asked if those millions lost would have made a difference in terms of those layoffs, Zybas said, "Absolutely." And asked if it might have saved jobs, he said, "Yeah."
And while they lose millions by not enforcing the law, the county has raised its dump fees nearly 18 percent to make up the shortfall -- higher fees which Rubatino and other garbage haulers have to pay, and higher fees the McAuliffes and others avoid by bypassing the county dump sites, adding to Rubatino's ire.
"As far as I'm concerned, they ought to be billed all those back years for the money that they didn't pay the county," said Rubatino.
The county assured KOMO News it will start enforcing the fines and penalties soon, but officials can't say exactly when. And what's the average Snohomish County homeowner paying for all this? According to the state Utilities and Transportation Commission, the average increase per garbage customer was $33.17 a year.