In April, the Mat-Su Borough began issuing $25 trash coupons, valid at the central landfill and Borough transfer stations for one year. Each Borough household was limited to one coupon to be used for one load. Households must have signed up by the end of May to get the coupon.
Borough Manager Mike Brown reports that to date, more than 5,000 coupons have been issued and about 3,000 of those have been redeemed. He says the coupons have saved Borough residents about $65,000. Talkeetna residents have saved about $2,000 of that and Willow residents about $1,600.
This is in stark contrast to the $890,000 that the two weeks of free dump days cost the Borough in September of last year. After the event, Borough Solid Waste Manager Jeff Smith said that fees would likely need to be increased to make up the shortfall. Landfill and transfer station fees were increased at the start of this fiscal year.
