Landfill loan to cover elections office project

Whitman County commissioners Monday approved a loan from the county’s solid waste fund to the auditor’s budget to cover costs of constructing new office space for the elections department.

Amount of the loan was undetermined, as was the payoff date. A two percent interest rate was put on the loan.

James Elmore Construction of Spokane is currently remodeling the elections office space under a $489,040 contract.

Money used to pay construction costs will be reimbursed from a $360,000 Help America Vote Act grant the county was awarded in 2004.

The solid waste reserve fund has been tapped for short term loans on several projects over recent years. A loan from the fund was used for remodeling the Colfax library and to help build the new Whitcom dispatch facility in Pullman.

The solid waste fund was developed to cover costs when the county has to close down a cell at the landfill in the next two or three years. Reserves are funded by $2.70 off the tipping fee of every ton of garbage that moves through the county’s transfer station between Colfax and Pullman.