Subsidized by the Town of Camp Verde as a service to its residents, Sedona Recycles maintains two recycling bins at Camp Verde Heritage Pool and Outpost Mall — both of which may be under threat of removal due to the rising cost of service.
On Aug. 11, Sedona Recycles Executive Director Jill McCutcheon sent an email to Camp Verde Town Manager Russ Martin, alerting him of the Sedona Recycle’s intention to raise the cost of service to $19,380. In a prior email, Martin had stated that the town was only able to pay $6,000 annually.
“Our board made a motion and voted that we bill you $6,000 to cover the expenses provided for July, August, September and October 2016,” McCutcheon stated. “At the end of October if you are unable to pay monthly for the remaining $13,380 [$1,672.50 per month], we will have to pull all our bins out of Camp Verde.
“Not only are we unable to carry the cost, but in essence those communities that pay the full price for the service we provide would then be subsidizing recycling in Camp Verde, and they are well aware of this and it could have an effect on their willingness to continue funding us …. We just can’t continue down this road. We have no reserves and can’t bear the burden any longer.”
Martin stated Sept. 21, “The history of the service and what we pay dates back several years when we were billed $1,000 per month for the service. When times got tougher for us, we reduced that to $6,000 per year and that is where we have stood for the past couple of years. We were warned that the cost to serve Camp Verde was higher and until recently [the past year or so] did not have a direct amount of that cost.
“As Sedona Recycles reserves have been depleted, they could no longer provide the services for $6,000.”
Martin brought the issue before town council on Sept. 7, when it was decided that “council wanted more time and to formalize a decision opportunity, as it was presented during a work session in an attempt to bring attention to the issue and allow council more time to consider the issue as well as get community feedback,” according to Martin.
Currently, decisions are pending a “near future council meeting,” according to Martin, leaving the issue of whether or not Sedona Recycling’s services will continue beyond October up in the air.
“We may need to find the additional funds to go beyond October for services,” Martin said. “[Sedona Recycles] have been great to work with and have done an outstanding job at keeping both locations clean for many years. They are the utmost professionals and have a passion to service all of the Verde Valley including Camp Verde. It’s just the cost for a nonprofit to continue at such a loss may injure their whole mission. We understand this was not easy for them.”
