T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY A sign on the city of Marshalltown's compost facility gate marks it closed for the season.

The city of Marshalltown’s Compost Facility had a net loss of $18,217 during its 2024 season, according to figures released in an email recently to the Times-Republican by city Public Works Director Heather Thomas.

However, the loss was solely the result of a $35,000 expense for equipment purchased in 2024. The purchase was an upgrade, Thomas said.

“This would not have been a typical annual expense,” she said.

This was coupled with $ 77,029.08 in operating expenses for total expenses of $112,129.

However, the facility earned $83,516 in revenue from gate disposal fees, compost sale, and loading fees. It also earned $ 10,296 in revenue from investment interest for a total income of $93,812.

Had not the equipment purchase been necessary the facility would have shown a profit of $16,783.

All figures submitted by Thomas were rounded up – or down – to the nearest dollar. Thomas said the next capital equipment need is estimated for fiscal year 2028.

“So, we are not anticipating any additional capital equipment for the next three seasons,” she said. “Operating the compost facility as a stand-alone enterprise allows us to charge those who use the facility to operate the facility in lieu of property taxes / general fund dollars -which are primarily used for police, fire, parks/rec, city buildings, and library departments,” Thomas said. She said staffing the facility was a challenge in the 2024 season.

“We operate the gate at the facility with seasonal employees and were a bit light this past year,” she said. “There were eight days in 2024 where we needed to staff the facility with full-time staff from the Street Division to be able to keep the facility open. In order to perform the necessary tasks that require larger equipment and a higher level of training and safety considerations, we also utilize staff from the Street Division to move and or pile the material, assist with large load-out, and process yard waste into compost.”

Thomas said materials that enter the compost center are sorted into three categories: grass and leaves, brush and limbs, and tree trunks/larger limbs.

“This helps us in being able to process the grass and leaves into compost, have the brush and limbs chipped, and allow residents to cut up the larger tree trunks and limbs for use as firewood. We ask the public to please sort their material in these categories. Plastic bags, twine, wood fences, trees with metal stakes in them, bird houses and more can cause damage to our equipment and also become a safety concern when operating equipment.”

Thomas said operating the facility in a cost-effective manner is important.

“We do our best to cost effectively operate the facility utilizing seasonal staff and bidding out the chipping/hauling needed to dispose of material at the best rate since burning material is no longer a viable option,” she said.

“Even with most of the large equipment borrowed at no cost from other public works divisions there are still expenses that we set our gate fees at to try and break even financially. We understand some residents feel that we should charge less or nothing at all; however, we do our best to operate the compost facility without a profit, but also without a loss. These past two seasons we feel we are in that ballpark for annual expenses and small minor equipment; however, as we look towards the future, we will need to make a determination whether to invest in a different vibratory screen – ours is getting closer to its end of repairable life – so we can continue to produce compost with the understanding that it has a larger cost – which will not cash flow at our current compost rates.

“We typically open the facility – in the 900 block of Woodland St. – approximately April 1 – but a firm date has not been set yet for the 2025 season. As of now – no formal decision to change hours for the upcoming season has been made. There may be a discussion at an upcoming council meeting to confirm hours of operation,” she said.

Business hours from the 2024 season were:

Monday through Thursday – closed; Friday:10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday: noon to 4 p.m.

The compost facility closed for the 2024 season on Dec. 8. The seasonal compost positions are open and available on the city’s website: Jobs • Marshalltown, IA • CivicEngage For more information, contact 641-754-5734 or visit www.marshalltown-ia.gov.