The Howard County Recycling District, which operates the County Yard Waste Center at 1130 South Dixon Road, notified the City of Kokomo Street Department that the facility is no longer accepting logs. The Solid Waste District Board, chaired by Commissioner Tyler Moore, is a separate taxing unit from city and county government and is funded by collecting property taxes from property owners. The decision to cancel this service, that taxpayers and local businesses rely on, effectively shifts that costs to local residents.
“This limitation on logs will be passed to all residents and businesses coming into the facility to drop materials,” said Mikki Jeffers, Howard County Recycling District Executive Director in an email to the Street Department. The action comes after the Board increased the District’s budget by over 24% last year, while continuing to decrease services and increase user fees.
City residents and property owners are now forced to pay for this service twice: once when they pay their taxes to the District, and a second time when they pay City crews or contractors to cut up the logs that were previously processed by the Yard Waste Center. This is in addition to the user fees charged for every dump.
Residents and businesses should direct their questions about the new restrictions to the County Yard Waste Center by calling 765-456-2274. Please note that the Yard Waste Facility is only open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Citizens may only contact them during this time.