WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (AP) - Officials in Yellowstone National Park have agreed to pay $50 more for every ton of garbage delivered to the compost plant here as part of an effort to keep the facility financially afloat.

The new fee is $175 a ton.

Steve Iobst, the park's maintenance chief, said the higher fee will be paid retroactive to Feb. 21.

The West Yellowstone/Hebgen Basin Solid Waste Management District's plant has been plagued by operational problems since it opened in July 2003, in part because of park garbage that couldn't be composted and clogged machinery.

Officials are working to solve the problems, including a planned public relations campaign this summer to get tourists to sort more garbage.

Gallatin County Treasurer Anna Rosenberry said even with the increased fee, all scenarios over the next six years suggest the plant will lose money.

The district used $4.1 million in state loans to build the plant.

Iobst said park officials trying to determine if some federal money might be available to help pay down the debt.

AP-WS-04-14-04 1114EDT