Frequently Asked Questions - Solid Waste

The County enacted a residential service fee on every home, apartment, mobile home and seasonal dwelling located in the County in 1992.  The service fee is applied to the real estate property tax statement.  A Commercial Solid Waste Service Fee is billed to every business located in the County.  The collected fees (Residential and Commercial) pay for the Solid Waste Management Program.  The facilities include two full service transfer stations, various rural collections site, recycling, household hazardous waste collection and disposal.  The Solid Waste Service Fee for a residential dwelling is not based on volume generated by each separate house.  The Commercial Solid Waste Fee is based on the amount of solid waste generated with fees being calculated based on a tier system.  That tier system is based on the expenses involved to transport and dispose of the solid waste and recyclables to their final end of life.  The Residential Solid Waste Service Fee allows Beltrami County residents to bring their household solid waste, recyclables, furniture, appliances, electronics, motor oil, oil filters, and household hazardous waste to the two full service Transfer Stations at no additional cost.  The various Rural Collection Sites accept household solid waste, fiber and container recyclables from residential customers only.

I am already paying someone to pick up my garbage.  Why am I paying the County?

The Solid Waste Management Program has no tipping fee for your hauler.  The disposal costs are included in your Solid Waste Service Fee.  Your commercial hauler is only charging you for their collection cost.

What about people who live in apartments?

The Residential Service Fee is applied to every livable unit in apartment buildings.  Each apartment is charged the same as a residential home.  This also includes every mobile home which is located in licensed mobile home parks.

Where do I dispose of my yard waste?

Grass clippings, garden waste, leaves, brush and stumps need to be taken to the Beltrami County Demolition Landfill located at 2331 North Plantagenet Road SE.  There are no fees to the customer to dispose of these items.

I know someone that lives by themselves and does a lot of recycling.  They probably do not even have one bag of garbage a week.  Why should they pay the same as a family of 5?

The county does not charge on the basis of how much garbage is generated.  There are two reasons for that:

        • It would be almost impossible to administer and figure out how much each household used.

        • There are many expenses in addition to the amount of tons of garbage generated.  The recycling program is a great example:  it costs the county significant dollars to meet our recycling goals.  Those goals are requirements placed on counties.

        What do I need to do to get new Solid Waste ID card?

        You need to take a copy of your property tax statement which shows the Solid Waste Special Assessment of $116.00 for residential and $58.00 for seasonal to the Waste Management Transfer Station where you will be issued an ID card.

        We do reduce the charges to Senior Citizens or Disabled people that have income under the federal poverty level.  They must apply for this discount by completing a Solid Waste Fee Reduction Application.