County Environmental Charge (CEC)

The CEC is a percentage of the cost of service and must appear as a separate line item on a bill. Ramsey County’s CEC rate is 28% for residential customers and 53% for non-residential customers. It applies to trash collection and disposal service, fuel surcharges, account start-up or cancellation fees and any other administrative fees. It does not apply to construction and demolition waste, recyclables, medical and infectious waste, organic materials collected for composting and certain types of industrial waste. The CEC also does not apply to other taxes or government fees.

Scroll table right to see more

Here is an example of a residential customer’s trash bill to show how the CEC is applied:
Basic 90-gallon trash service for 3 months $50.00 CEC applies to the cost of trash service
Fuel surcharge $4.50 CEC applies to the fuel surcharge
Cost of trash service $54.50 Total amount subject to the CEC
County Environmental Charge $15.26 28% of $54.50
9.75% State Solid Waste Management Tax $5.32 9.75% of $54.50
Total trash bill $75.08  

In this example, the customer pays $75.08. Your company then remits $15.26 to Ramsey County and $5.32 to the State. A CEC Monthly Remittance Report is due to Ramsey County each month, along with a payment of the charges collected.
The CEC funds the waste reduction and management programs, including Ramsey County’s household hazardous waste, yard waste and food scraps collection programs, as well as Fix-it Clinics and BizRecycling. More information on the CEC is available in the CEC Guidelines (PDF).