If preliminary discussions are any indication, most garbage customers in Park County could see an increase in their bills in coming months — though nowhere near as severe as those a year ago.Park County commissioners said last week that while they plan to keep landfill tipping fees at $90 a ton in the coming year, they would like to eliminate the discounts they've been providing to the cities of Powell and Cody, the town of Meeteetse and private hauler Keele Sanitation.

Because of the large amount of waste dumped at the county's landfills by the municipalities and Keele, payment is arranged in advance through contracts, each slightly different.

For some time, the annual bill for the three municipalities has reflected a 5 percent discount to compensate for any trash illegally put in city dumpsters by out-of-town residents; Powell received an additional 1 percent credit to compensate for the grass clippings thrown in city garbage bins. Keele has been receiving a 2 percent discount to compensate for trash collected during alley clean-ups.

As those contracts come up for renewal, the county wants to do away with the discounts.

“We just want to be straightforward,” Commissioner Dave Burke said Tuesday. Burke said all landfill users — including the cities — should simply pay for the trash they dump.

Commissioner Tim French, an ardent skeptic of the idea that rural residents dump garbage in city dumpsters, suggested that a discount for illegal dumping is unwarranted.

Under the past year's contract, the city of Powell agreed to pay the county a pre-determined sum of $465,300 to dispose of its garbage at the Powell landfill.

If Powell's 6 percent discount was removed, the city would owe the county $29,700 more than it did last year, contract documents indicate.

The county does plan to continue accepting various materials for free if they are properly sorted — including appliances, vehicles, brush and clean wood, grass, wood chips, hay, leaves, animal bedding, clean gravel, dirt and asphalt.

Also, garbage customers would continue to be allowed to bring additional trash — such as a couch — to the landfill at no additional charge.

The commission's proposed changes are only preliminary, and have yet to be discussed and negotiated with the municipalities and Keele.

Rural residents who do not have garbage pickup service, and bring their own trash to the county's landfills, should not see a price increase, as they have not historically received discounts.

Commissioners raised landfill tipping fees from $60 a ton to $90 a ton last year to help cover the cost of mandated improvements at the Cody landfill — though because of the discounts, Powell, for example, was really only paying about $86.50 a ton.

Improvements were necessitated by new state/federal water quality regulations, which required the installation of liners and groundwater monitoring equipment in the county's landfill pits.

The county scheduled the Meeteetse and Powell landfills for closure after the cost of upgrading them was found to be too high. Meeteetse's site closed at the end of June and Powell's pit for household waste is slated for shutdown in the fall of 2012.

County-wide, tipping fees are scheduled to rise 8 percent every five years to pay for current and future landfill improvements and closures.