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Majestic Disposal officials admit to paperwork problems and failing to pay for workers' compensation insurance, but they want to work things out.
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 1, 2001
INVERNESS -- Majestic Disposal officials agree that they have had plenty of problems during the past two years, from paperwork that was never filed with the county to computer glitches that failed to bill some users while erroneously billing a few former customers.
As the financial pressures mounted, the Inverness-based garbage hauler even admitted to cutting costs by not paying its workers' compensation insurance for five months this year.
But at the end of a 21/2-hour administrative hearing Tuesday morning, Majestic vice president Joe Cannizzo asked County Administrator Richard Wesch to let the company work out its problems, not shut it down.
"We're a business that's trying to stay in business," Cannizzo said.
It is a marginally run business, as far as county solid waste management director Susan Metcalfe is concerned.
Metcalfe called for the hearing last month and alleged that the company has misrepresented itself and is barely financially solvent.
"If the customers were aware of how close the cash flow really was, they might not feel comfortable making payments (to Majestic Disposal) if they knew the truck might not be able to afford to come to their house," Metcalfe said Tuesday.
Wesch will make a written recommendation in 15 days on whether the company's certification should be suspended on revoked, which could send the company's 6,000 customers throughout the county looking for a new garbage hauler. Wesch said his ruling could be appealed to the County Commission and the civil courts if the hauler chooses.
Cannizzo pleaded with Wesch not to halt his operations and said the financially strapped company does not have the money to reimburse prepaid customers in the event of a shutdown.
"That's money that's already been spent," Cannizzo said. "How do we close up a business that's been paid in advance?"
If the ruling goes against Majestic, the county would ensure continued garbage pick-ups for the company's customers, Metcalfe said. No details were offered as to how that would be accomplished.
Cannizzo described the most serious and potentially costly charge facing his company as "screw-ups on some paperwork."
William Dooley founded the company in 1998 as a sole proprietor. In July 1999, the company became incorporated with Cannizzo and Sarasota businessman Martin Whiteman as partners, but Dooley never updated his certification with the county to show the new shareholders.
Because the paperwork was outdated, Metcalfe argued, Majestic has been operating for the past two years under an invalid certification. If Wesch agrees, the company could owe the landfill more than $240,000 -- the amount the company should have paid in higher tipping fees as an uncertified hauler.
"We were trying to do the best we can, but unfortunately things got away from me because I was on the street," Dooley said, explaining that he saved the company money by driving one of the garbage trucks himself, which left little time to keep up with the paperwork.
Majestic resolved another matter with the county by paying the landfill $130 in back tipping fees for the garbage it has hauled from Crystal River.
Haulers must pay $45 per ton for garbage from the cities, as opposed to the $30 tipping fee for the rest of the county, because city residents do not pay the county's $17-per-home landfill assessment.
Until two weeks ago, Majestic failed to identify how much garbage it was bringing from Crystal River and paid the $30 tipping fee for all of its waste.