As someone who has recently inherited our family farm, the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority’s (SWA) proposed solid waste transition plan is a direct threat to my livelihood, our land, and the legacy I hope to leave to my children.
Because the county landfill is closing and the SWA needs to pay a massive new $16,759 monthly lease for a private transfer station, they are desperately searching for new revenue. Here is exactly how their proposed plan would devastate our family farm:
The Unfair "Acreage Tax" on Empty Fields Currently, I pay a flat $135 annual "Green Box" fee for the single farmhouse where we actually live and generate trash. However, the SWA is considering a radical change: expanding the fee to cover every single deeded parcel of land in the county, regardless of whether it is occupied or generates a single ounce of waste.
Because family farms like ours are typically composed of multiple deeded plots (such as separate pastures, woodlots, and crop fields), we are the primary targets of this change. The new fee is projected to skyrocket to anywhere between $310 and $600 a year. If our farm is made up of five separate deeded parcels, my annual trash bill could quintuple, forcing me to pay thousands of dollars for empty fields that produce absolutely zero solid waste.
The Threat of Fines and Property Liens If this multiplied financial burden becomes too much and I cannot afford to pay, the county plans to enforce compliance with severe penalties. The SWA's proposed rules include an automatic $150 civil penalty simply for failing to provide a receipt proving I disposed of trash every 30 days.
Far more terrifying is what happens to the farm itself. If I refuse or am unable to pay these exorbitant, multi-parcel fees, the county has the authority to place a lien on my private property, which operates exactly like unpaid property taxes.
Robbing My Children's Inheritance This is how the proposal directly harms my children. A property lien means the government has a legal claim to our family's land. If I die with these liens attached to my farm, the debt does not disappear; it becomes a direct burden on my children. They will inherit an encumbered estate, meaning they will not be able to sell, refinance, or perhaps even keep the farm without first paying off the massive debt I owed to the SWA. In the worst-case scenario, the county could eventually force the sale of our generational farmland just to recover their unpaid dumpster fees.
The SWA's plan to avoid its own bankruptcy essentially threatens to bankrupt my family. Right now, our only hope is that the SWA listens to the intense public pushback and finalizes an exemption for farmers, ensuring that empty deeded lots and farms are completely exempt from this crushing new fee structure.
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