In a move to shore up its finances, the Cherokee County Landfill and Recycling Center in Iowa has laid off six more workers.  Since early April, the center has let go of 20 of its 25 workers.  

When coupled with an increase in garbage rates, these layoffs should stabilize the landfill's finances.  

"We feel very confident in it,"  Mark Leeds, chairman of the county's Solid Waste Commission told the Sioux City Journal. "We have a full-fledged budget. We've analyzed every expense. We will be able to meet our obligations."

The financial issues at the landfill stem from a 2009 decision to issue $3.2 million in bonds to purchase equipment that generates fuel pellets to be burned in boilers.  The county had expected that the pellets would be purchased in large volumes by a planned biodiesel plant.  

When the plant was never built and other buyers didn't materialize, the county was left with significant debt servicing obligations.