This fee, also called a TAX, may have unintended consequences.
- "Illegal" piles of trash that our Public Works Director will make sure gets picked up anyway.
- A treasured service that allows us to stand out from other cities - now TAXED.
- A service that has a new TAX imposed, but does not include details related to who will determine the fee and how we know it will be administered consistently and fairly across the city.
- Further concern for citizen dollars that are spent on nonprofits - such as the SCCA and others. Citizen dollars are going to nonprofits while TAXING citizens to help make this happen. (The money that is earmarked for nonprofits, by my estimation, is anywhere from $700,000 to a million dollars. The bulk refuse TAX is expected to bring in about $600,000.)
- Further concern that the Council has not directed staff to make all of the cuts it can to live below the means of the city's budget. Instead, additional TAXED dollars will come out of citizen pockets.
Just a gentle reminder - and one that we keep on our website: The Council's first duty is to its citizens - not its administration.
15 comments:
The last hot water heater I had to go bad the plumber charged me $50.00 to haul it away, I think the city would be cheaper if I wanted to leave it out in front of my house for a few days waiting for the city to pick it up. User fees are a good and fair way to pay for the cost of providing services, although the cities fee schedule should be condensed somewhat.
$20 to have 8 cubic yards of debris picked at at your curb or $50 to have up to 16 cubic yards removed sounds like a good deal to me. How much more fair could it be that the residents who use the serivce pay for the service they get.
Clearly not everyone uses the service. Some use it up to 12 times a year and other only once every 12 years.
And it should be noted, that many other Cities in our region (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, etc) charge for refuse collection. Some as much as $30/week.
I agree with the original post. The Council couldn't and/or wouldn't make the hard decisions and chose to add taxes rather really cut.
The mayor - we can revisit this. Where's that fiscal conservative stuff you talked about during the election?
Gardy - this gives me heartburn
Milteer - get your stuff out now
Bennett - how about once a month pickup? (We're real confident about about the SPSA guy here.)
Parr - probably just thinks everyone can afford a bit more money
Brown - too busy with his own business to care about us
Barlow and Barclay - who knows?
Pray there will be no hurricanes this year as City ditches are going to be filled by illegal dumping. Likewise private property owners will be forced to shovel mountains of foul smelling garbage at their expense. Public Works will naturally ask to increase staffing to keep the ditches and city property clean. Besides the mountains of trash we'll soon experience an increase of flies and vermin along our roads. Well done Suffolk City Council, once again you created another stinking mess. If you are looking to dump on someone else's property, there are two locations on Robbs Drive.
Everyone seems to forget that suffolk residents can take items for free directly to the landfill as long as it is not a refrigerator which contains fluids that need to be removed prior to discard. Also, anything that can be stuffed into the containers will be picked up. Now is a good time for the civic leagues to step up and sponsor clean up days and maybe foot the bill for a dumpster container if there is a need. Many cities make you pay for the amount of trash you generate by buying the bags you use. this also helps out in the recycling as people dont want to pay to throw out as trash items which can be recycled. As far as folks dumping on the side of the road I hope everyone will watch out for this and report it to the police if anyone is seen. there is nothing more common than one who litters. I think everyone is in an uproar over something that really wont be that difficult to manage.
Wow somebody fell off the reality train. Even in the best of times people illegaly dumped. They filled ditches, they clogged driveways and left mountains of trash on other people's property. Since then the economy tanked, money is tight and people have trash to dump. Only now the city is going to levy another fee (tax) to pick up bulk items. So lets be realistic and come to the conclusion we'll soon have other people's trash to clean up. Eather way you look at it we are stuck with the cleaning bill.
Yup. Let's report litter issues to the police. Like they don't have better things to do. I'd rather our fine officers work on gang issues.
Neilsen said it all when he admistted that the city will have to pick up more covert and illegal dumping, but it can be paid for with the new road money we now get. Seems like this is a slight of hand that will take from those who are not paying attention as usual. The claim that other cities are charging is always a red herring, since other cities don't also have other charges we have to pay. Just because one self-serving municipal monopoly has found another way to pick our pockets, is not a good reason for our own to do so too. When we get such poor service for what we pay for why ahould we pay more? There are now over 500 fees and charges scheduled, not to mention taxes on utilities, property, cars, food, hotels, cell phones, fuel, and everything else we use every day! Then they find new ways to charge even more like alarm fees, rain taxes, water and sewer fees up over 28% and that is on top of home property taxes up over 100% and more in just the last four years for many! This entire thing is getting out of hand and for some to pander that it is jsut a little more is either self-serving or out and out STUPID! Most don't realize that we now pay alsmost 50% of our income for the government and that is just to much for what we get from them. Who needs 25 staff members that make near or over $100,000.00 a year? Who needs to pay for perks like car allowances that are more than most get in their pention checks each month? It is well past time to realize they are eating us one bite at a time and we will soom be all gobbled up! Anyone for the new tax to monitor septic tank pump-outs now in the works? That will come and will be another way to expand local government.
I have reported dumping in the past on my property, only to meet with silence or "Sorry, did you get their license plate number?" Whaile it happened at midnight or later and I just was not there! So I paid to have it cleaned up four times. Now I can pay the Cty to do it, but probably many more times that four! This stinks and will creat more troubles that it solves, which will be another reason that we will have to pay to figure out how to fix this problem.
The next time you find trash dumped on your property and the police do not respond. Simply drag to trash (at night)on to the shoulder of the nearest public road, city property or park and then call. Prince Eric's highly paid Public Works Road Crew will come and clean it up at no cost to you. Naturally he will be asking for more budget dollars next year. But as long as he fills potholes and trims trees to keep the simple minded council happy, he's safe.
I thought Obama's stimulus billions would have at least funded hiring the unemployables to keep the ditches clean. They voted for free rent, food and no taxes. In return they could take a break from being a doorstop or a porch ornament and get a little exercise.
I agree witht he comments that dumping will increase and harm the people of Suffolk. We will have the harassment of a mess in our yards or porperty, just so the city can derive another $600,000 from us. When will it stop? When we are bleed dry and stand-up and tell them we will not take it anymore. But how will that work? Once they get a fee or charge, they never give it back!
If you find trash on your property, go thru it and see if you can find documentation regarding ownership kindly clean it up and take it back to the rightful owner and dump it back on him. Serial numbers can be traced. Ot take it and dump in in the parking lot at city hall.
An interesting observation. A member of the City Council was overheard recently complaining about the Obama Administration's stimulus programs. Yet that same person has voted in favor of funding non-profits and special interest groups like the SCCA and dozens of others with a stimulus package of their own. Well what do you know, they do have half a brain after all.
Benton County, Arkansas, Considers Ways To Reduce Illegal Dumping.
The Morning News (5/17, Sims) reported, "If rural land owners are to clean up junked property then county government must make it easy and affordable to get rid of rubbish, said Justice of the Peace Bobby Hubbard, R-northwestern Benton County. ... Hubbard said the county should offer a better way for residents who live in the most rural areas to dispose of waste." And "without a convenient spot to bring rubbish, illegal dumping continues to be a problem." Establishing sites for residents to deposit trash other than the county landfill was suggested as a way to reduce illegal dumping.
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