Roanoke supervisors approve RVRA budget; municipal tipping fee rises $1.50 per ton

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors voted April 23 to adopt a resolution supporting the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority's proposed FY24-25 budget, including a proposed municipal tipping fee increase of $1.50 per ton (from $55.00 to $56.50) and a proposed commercial rate increase of $1.75 per ton (from $65.75 to $67.50).

John Lanford, chief executive officer of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority, presented the budget and described recent capital work and revenue projects. "Our physical '24 budget is $15,900,000. Our proposed physical '25 budget, 16,700,000.0, specifically a $835,797 increase between physical years, approximately 5.2%," Lanford said. He told the board the authority has completed construction of Cell 7, which "provides 5 years of airspace at the Smithcap facility," and has begun placing the first layer of waste in that cell.

Lanford described a methane-to-renewable-natural-gas (RNG) conversion partnership that he said should begin generating a dedicated revenue stream in 2025. He gave the project's preliminary revenue range as "800,000 to 1,200,000" annually and told supervisors the authority expects to use most of that revenue for future site development and equipment replacement while it may also help offset some future rate increases.

On rates, Lanford offered a conversion metric: "each dollar increase per ton generates approximately a $109,600 in new revenue" on the municipal side; he said Roanoke County's proportional share of a $1.50-per-ton increase would be about $63,256, with the remainder borne by the other members (Benton, Salem and Roanoke City).

Board members asked about competitiveness and the landfill's remaining capacity. Lanford said, based on current modeling, the permitted Part B area (Cells 7, 8 and 9) provides roughly 21 years of capacity, though he cautioned that environmental regulations and site conditions could change projections. He also told supervisors the RVRA board has scheduled a public hearing at its June meeting to adopt final rates and budget.

The board moved and seconded the resolution as presented; the clerk recorded a unanimous roll-call vote in favor (5-0).

What happens next: the RVRA will hold its public hearing on rates in June before formally adopting them. The county's portion of any change will be reflected in municipal service charges once RVRA sets final rates.