Cuyahoga Falls Police Chief Tom Pozza says Falls City Council is expected to vote next week on an ordinance, which would bill the operators of meth labs for the expense of removing the chemicals and cleaning up effort at meth lab sites.

Pozza tells AkronNewsNow.com "this legislation is geared to make the owner of the property, or the crook pay for the clean-up. It's not fair to have the taxpayers pay the money."

Pozza said until recently, the Summit County Drug Unit, of which Cuyahoga Falls is a member, paid the bill for such clean-ups. Now, Pozza said it would no longer do so because of the expense. That puts the cost back on each city where the meth lab was dismantled.

Pozza said it's expensive to clean up the chemicals.

"There is a private company that does do that but of course they don't work for free," he said.

"The typical charge they bill to come out and get the chemicals to dispose of them safely is anywhere between $1,000 to $2,000 a time," Pozza said.

This year, the department has had to clean up 10 meth labs in homes in the city at a cost of more than $10,000. He said that's a budget buster the taxpayer shouldn't have to pay.

Years ago, the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration paid for the cost of cleaning up a meth house, but they no longer do so, leaving the expense to cash strapped local communities.