Lucas County staff on Tuesday presented a plan to shift funding for the Solid Waste Management District from landfill disposal fees toward a higher fixed parcel assessment to finance a county-owned materials-recovery facility (MRF).

Sanitary Engineering Director Jim Shaw described the MRF as a long-discussed project to reduce landfill dependence and hold recycling-processing capacity within the county. “This is a remediation grant of $7,000,000 of a $9,000,000 project,” Shaw said, describing an Ohio EPA grant used to remediate the proposed Coleman Drive and South Avenue site before construction of the MRF.

Under the county’s proposal, the current assessment now levied as $2.50 per half year ($5 per year) on improved parcels would increase to $12.50 per half year ($25 per year). County staff said that $20 of additional annual assessment — about $1.67 per month — would first appear on bills due in January 2026 if the commissioners approve the change following the public-hearing process.

Shaw said the county has received approximately $12 million in grants toward the MRF to date and that the facility is expected to reduce long-haul transport and exposure to fluctuating commodity markets. Presenters noted that current single-stream materials are trucked roughly 90 miles one-way to an offsite processing location (Oberlin), using at least four daily truck runs; moving processing into-county would cut that travel and related operating costs.

Commissioner Gerken and other commissioners described the fee increase as a modest method to control long-term costs and to “control our own destiny” rather than rely on external market prices. “I think it’s probably the best dollar 67 a month increase that we can offer Lucas County residents for a change in how we do recycling,” Gerken said.

Shaw said the county will review operations annually and could adjust rates later as the MRF begins operations. He described an operating agreement under development that would include cost-recovery mechanisms and rebates tied to recycling quality and contamination avoidance.

The presentation was the first of three public hearings; staff scheduled the second hearing for next Tuesday at 11 a.m. in the commissioners’ chambers and the third for June 24 at 6 p.m. at Springfield Township. No formal vote was taken at Tuesday’s hearing.