Nye County restores free landfill access for residents

Nye County residents can once again dump household waste at county landfills without paying tipping fees, after commissioners unanimously reversed the charge that had been imposed last summer. The change took effect immediately after the Nye County Commission approved Bill No. 2026-03 during a public hearing Thursday, restoring free access for residents in Pahrump, Tonopah, Round Mountain and other county communities.

The move marked a sharp retreat from the county’s February 4, 2025 decision to begin charging for non-household and commercial waste on July 1, 2025. At the time, county officials said the landfill system faced financial pressure, parcel fees were increased by $5 a year to support operations, and the Pahrump Landfill was projected to reach capacity within 15 years. But the resident fee policy quickly became unpopular, especially after households said it ended decades of free disposal for items such as furniture, appliances and yard waste, with green waste limited to Saturdays.

Commissioner Ron Boskovich described the new bill as a cleanup of the county’s earlier decision. Public Works Engineering Tech Cody McKee said the waiver does not extend to contractors or waste-removal businesses, keeping commercial haulers on the fee schedule. The county also changed a small but important piece of code by replacing the word “household” with “solid,” broadening the resident exemption so county residents can dispose of solid waste generated at their own residence at county landfills and transfer stations without charge.

The political reversal also reflects the practical backlash that built around the old fee structure. Residents and county officials warned that charging households could push trash into desert areas and along remote roads, turning a budget fix into a public-safety and cleanup problem. County materials had listed in-county tipping fees of $7.50 per cubic yard for municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste and sludge, and $22.50 per cubic yard for medical waste, but the language created confusion because the code’s household-waste exemption did not line up neatly with the fee flyer’s terminology.

The Pahrump Landfill at 1631 E. Mesquite Ave. remains open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nye County’s solid waste management plan must be updated regularly to stay in compliance with state requirements, and county public works has said the 2022 update would keep the county compliant until September 2027. For now, the county has put free resident disposal back in place, shifting the cost of that policy back onto county landfill operations instead of household users.