JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The City of Jacksonville is considering rewarding a local company with hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentives to expand its headquarters.
But some city council members are raising a red flag as allegations arise that Advanced Disposal may be jipping the city in owed fees.
One council member now wants a thorough investigation into whether Advanced Disposal should be paying host fees to the city.
According to internal emails obtained by Action News, it is an issue that was first brought up months ago, but still hasn't been handled.
"There was discussion about this back as early as May this year," said city councilman John Crescimbeni. "I'm disappointed that it hasn't been resolved."
Crescimbeni is trying to get some answers. As the city moves forward on an ordinance that would provide waste management company Advanced Disposal with a package of incentives to expand its headquarters, there are questions brewing as to whether the company is paying fees for yard waste that doesn't get recycled.
"There appears to be some confusion or disagreement about what they're doing with that material on whether or not it constitutes a recycling activity," he said.
So Action News went straight to the source -- Advanced Disposal.
"This is the first time we've heard anything as far as the city having any issues with us for our host fee payments," said Mary O'Brien, Chief Marketing Officer with Advanced Disposal. "We have no outstanding invoices for the city of Jacksonville."
But Crescimbeni says it isn't the city's duty.
"The burdens kind of on them," he said. "The question is are they exempting things to avoid the payment of the host fee that really shouldn't be exempted?"
O'Brien says that isn't the case.
"We are in full compliance with the city of Jacksonville's compliance officers as well as the state of Florida's DEP compliance," she told Action News. "We were last inspected by the city of Jacksonville last Thursday, September 27, and passed with flying colors."
Action News also spoke with Cleveland Ferguson, Deputy Chief Administration Officer for the city. He tells Action News the whole ordeal is all a misunderstanding. He says Advanced Disposal does not have any unpaid host fees. And he hopes all this drama doesn't effect their pending deal to expand their headquarters in the city.
Crescimbeni says Advanced Disposal had to pay the city a settlement a year ago after the city caught them hauling commercial waste in residential trucks to avoid tipping fees.
A special finance committee meeting is happening Tuesday afternoon to discuss this further. Crescimbeni says Mayor Alvin Brown is asking for the incentives bill to be approved by city council Tuesday night during the meeting.
