PRESS ROOM

ANTICIPATING $4-MILLION SHORTFALL, SPSA WILL TRIM SPENDING

(CHESAPEAKE, VA, November 30, 2006) -- Faced with a budget deficit of about $4 million, the Southeastern Public Service Authority is eliminating “non-critical expenditures” and is examining further budget cuts as well, SPSA executive director John S. Hadfield says.
            “We will work together to find a way to end the year with a balanced budget,” Mr. Hadfield said following Wednesday’s SPSA Board of Directors meeting.  In addition to cuts, he said a new tipping fee schedule “will go a long way in plugging the hole in the budget.”  Tipping fees are what SPSA charges its eight member-communities to process their solid waste.
            Mr. Hadfield said reduced deliveries of municipal waste and diminished revenue for construction and demolition debris are primarily to blame for the prospective budget deficit.  SPSA’s fiscal year 2007 operating budget is $88.6 million.

SPSA has been providing efficient and environmentally sound waste disposal services to the region and its residents since 1985. SPSA’s solid waste management system includes waste-to-energy, yard waste composting, drop-off and curbside recycling as well as other recycling programs, household hazardous waste collection, landfilling, landfill gas-to-energy and education programs. This integrated waste management system enables SPSA to put 57% of the waste it receives to a beneficial use, thus allowing the region to reduce its dependence on landfills.