Dive summary:

• Taxpayers invested $172,000 into a new Arcadia, N.Y. landfill in order to bring in extra money for the town but, when it was halfway through, the landfill plans were canceled, leaving taxpayers with a big hole in their pockets and no landfill.
• The businessman heading the investment withdrew his offer to buy the land for the landfill after an engineering report found noise issues would require expensive and time-consuming variances.
• The landfill would have brought in $1.5 million a year to be split between Arcadia, the village of Newark and various community groups; residents are now stuck with no additional income and are still out the original $172,000.

From the article:

Arcadia Town Councilman Bruce Nielsen opened the gate to the land where the old town landfill sits high above Route 88. DEC ordered it closed about 17 years ago because it did not have a liner underneath. The town says it brought in about $500,000 a year. So when the offer came in to buy other land on the 161 acre site for a new landfill, the town felt obligated to listen.

Bruce Nielsen, Arcadia Town Councilman, said, “The town isn't in dire straights immediately but as we do long range planning, we can see that our expenses are going up over four and-a-half percent a year and we try not to raise taxes at all. You find it hard trying to find places to make up the difference.” ...