Santa Fe County plans to increase fees for dumping trash at its transfer stations. How much hasn't been decided yet, but it could be a lot.

The County Commission voted Tuesday to publish notice of its intention to raise solid-waste fees, with a number of different options up for consideration.

One scenario calls for the cost of a 24-punch pass to shoot up to $230 from $35. County Solid Waste Manager Olivar Barela said Tuesday that number represents the amount the county would need to charge if solid-waste fees were to cover the department's entire $2.3 million annual budget.

Barela said he threw out some numbers Tuesday just to get discussion going, but he doubts the $230 option will be the one passed by the commission.

"The real topic here is that magic number where consumers don't just stop participating and start dumping in arroyos," Barela said. "We're going to come up with something. We know it's not $230, but at $35 it's almost, like, gratis."

Barela said the fee generates only $258,000 — about 11 percent — of the Solid Waste Division's annual budget. The rest is covered from the county general fund.

Barela said the county itself faces an increase as tipping fees at the Caja del Rio Landfill, a joint city-county operation, are set to increase soon to $32.50 from $25 per ton for trash the county dumps there.

Another option commissioners will mull before deciding on the new fee structure is the idea of assessing a flat fee for dumping privileges for all or some county residents. If residents only outside the municipalities of Santa Fe and Edgewood were billed, the fee would have to run about $75 per year. If everyone in the county paid the fee, Barela said, it would be about $37 per year for everyone to have a 24-card punch.

Another proposed change would create a $10 one-time pass anyone could buy.

Commissioner Kathy Holian said people need to start realizing the true cost of dealing with garbage, but she also wants to create a fee structure that works for the environment. Free recycling could be part of that equation, she said.

"We need to create a structure that encourages people to recycle more," Holian said. "We don't want to create a structure that rewards people for dumping more."

Commissioner Liz Stefanics said the county may need to accept the fact that fees will never pay for the full cost of operating the Solid Waste Division.

"The question is, what can our residents live with?" Stefanics asked.

There will be a public hearing — which hasn't yet been scheduled — on the proposed increases before the change becomes law.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.