City will revisit idea of breaking out fee for garbage collection from tax bill

Posted by Howard Owens on September 29, 2009 - 4:55pm
Tagged in
Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionSend to friendSend to friend

Right now, the cost of garbage collection in City of Batavia is just part of each property owner's tax bill.

It doesn't matter if dwelling is four units with four families, or one unit, the fee you pay is based on assessed value. There's no direct correlation between the amount of refuse produced from your property.

Councilman Sam Barone said last night the current system is unfair.

“Presently, it's based on the value of your home, for example," Barone said, "and there are some agencies that don’t pay at all, non-profit organizations, for example do not pay for trash service.”

Barone brought forward a now familiar proposal -- one that hasn't gotten far before -- to break out the cost of garbage collection as a separate fee on tax bills, and modify the fee-based system so its charged on a per-unit basis, including non-profits.

Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian immediately objected to the idea, saying, "You’re going to see a lot of garbage all over the city."

Councilman Frank Ferrando then backed Barone's proposal.

“We should investigate this because this should really bring down costs to taxpayers,” Ferrando said. “What we're doing is we're looking at the cost, a fairer way of distributing the costs. We should look into it."

At which point, Christian said, “There’s no doubt we should look into it.  We discussed it at the last budget meeting and agreed that we should discuss it sometime this year because it would definitely bring down the cost to taxpayers, so somehow, some way if we can do it, yes.”

Council President Charlie Mallow said he didn't favor putting a fee on garbage collection for non-profits. "Non-profits do a lot of good for the city," Mallow said.

The decision: City staff will investigate what other municipalities in the state are doing and bring a report back to council.

Posted by Mark Potwora on September 29, 2009 - 5:47pm
I just brought this up a couple of day ago on here,when Charlie asked what services i would cut..Mr.Barone is right it is un fair to those that only have one bag a week,when other are throwing out 6 bags.Also why should the value of your house dictate how much you pay to throw garbage out...Let those that throw out more pay more..Pay per bag is the way i would go,and also non profits should pay,GACSA is a good ex,they throw out more than 6 bags a week.If anything it would make more people recycle..Way to go Mr.Barone..
Posted by John Roach on September 29, 2009 - 6:12pm
I agree with Mark.

Why should we have to pick up the cost for non profits?

Why should somebody with one bag per week, like many older people, pay more than somebody who has 5 bags?

Pay per bag works in other places, why not here?

Good idea Sam and Frank.
Posted by Howard Owens on September 29, 2009 - 6:26pm
Wouldn't pay-per-bag be more inefficient and drive up costs?

(and I'm not sure that's what anybody is purposing).

But if I put out three bags one week, and five the next and two the next, somebody's got to track that. Producing and selling stickers will cost money, and then work crews will be slowed checking for stickers, and what do we expect them to do for bags that don't have stickers -- leave the stinking festering bags out in the hot summer sun?

Pay per unit makes some sense, but will essentially lead to higher costs for the people who can least afford higher costs. It is the fairest method, though.

As for non-profits, Charlie makes a good point, but in most places, garbage collection isn't a monopoly and eveybody pays.

But when this is addressed, I thin there should also be a talk about recycling and how to encourage more of it, and yard waste pick up.
Posted by Jason Meyer on September 29, 2009 - 6:28pm
From an outsider's POV I pay a private company (County Waste) who supplies the large rolling can as well. I think we're paying around 30/month. Per bag won't work in a city setting.
Posted by Ken Toal on September 29, 2009 - 6:28pm
I see 100 gallon trash bags on the horizon. Or people sneaking around dropping bags of trash in other people's yards or a city dumpster. Trouble is a brewin'.
Posted by Charlie Mallow on September 29, 2009 - 6:37pm
Pay per bag would be a disaster, we would be knee deep in trash. Sam isn't proposing a pay per bag option. He wants to start charging multi-family homes more as well as not for profits. I'm ok with multi-family homes but, not for profits benefit the city.
Posted by John Roach on September 29, 2009 - 6:49pm
No stickers. You buy the bags from the City, or at a store. If the bag is out in front, it gets picked up.

Again, this is not a new idea, but why is it that nothing can ever work in Batavia that works in other places?

And again, Charlie, why should I pay for a non profit's garbage pickup?
Posted by Charlie Mallow on September 29, 2009 - 7:06pm
John, you are telling me I need to go buy government bags. No doubt clear plastic bags too? Who's relative gets the bag contract? What do you do when I don't have money for a bag and take my garbage and dump it at your house? What happens when someone can't afford bags and just throws their trash in their basement? Who pays for the rat problem? How much more will it cost to keep our parks clean when they look like the city dump?

We live on top of each other in the city, trash pickup is a public health concern.

You want to charge the girl scouts for garbage pickup? Churches? Charites? Not me.

I think we have talked about this for hours, we are not going to change each others mind.
Posted by Lucille Van Son on September 29, 2009 - 7:07pm
Ok, you want to charge multi-family homes more. Say you have a 2 family house, and in it you have an elderly person living in each apartment. And right next door, you have a single family home with a husband and wife and 5 children. Who will have more trash? But the charges won't be fair, will they?
Posted by John Roach on September 29, 2009 - 7:24pm
Charlie, Your "government bag" comment sounded stupid.

If I want to give money to the Girl Scouts or a church, I will. I don't need you taking my money to support them agaisnt my will, even for garbage pick up.

This was researched by City Council years ago, but never went anywhere, just anothe study. But this idea of yours that people in Batavia will act like you say is just not right. They are better than that.

You're right, we will not change each others mind on this.
Posted by Charlie Mallow on September 29, 2009 - 7:43pm
Sorry John, I could not resist pointing out that you told me to buy something from the government :-)

What's next health care…
Posted by Howard Owens on September 29, 2009 - 7:30pm
I don't think Charlie's comment sounded stupid. For those of us who believe in smaller, limited government, it pretty much hit the mark. The idea of making people buy certain bags, or tags, is pretty disturbing. If it weren't for the ARC contract, I'd favor a free market (let me pick my own collection company) solution. If I can't have that, the idea of buying bags, stickers, and managing all that just seems like another big government program.
Posted by John Roach on September 29, 2009 - 7:33pm
Howard,
I see your point, but having garbage fees based on home value only is wrong.

And making us pay for non profits garbage is wrong also.
Posted by Mark Potwora on September 29, 2009 - 8:39pm
Charlie we buy government stickers now to throw out certian items..What is the difference if we have to do the same for a bag of trash..I'm with John on the non profits..Why am i forced to subsize them..If we take Charlie's and Howard's
view on this, then why do i need to buy government sticker's to get rid of items i don't want..Let's do away with that....To base what i pay for trash on the value of my house seems wrong...We have laws to go after those that don't mow their lawn ,so why wouldn't we do the same if they leave trash all over the place..
Posted by Charlie Mallow on September 29, 2009 - 8:57pm
Good point about the stickers but, personally I would rather be able to throw out large items too, without stickers. Or we should at least get a few free stickers every year.

Trash is a problem in the city. Even with a free pickup, some people still refuse to clean up.
Posted by Vicki Newton on September 29, 2009 - 9:30pm
I pay for my own pickup but my trash company limits the number and size of bags they will pick up each week. They also let you throw one large item (such as a fridge) away per month at no extra charge. I've always felt that was fair.
Posted by Beth Kinsley on September 29, 2009 - 10:32pm
When I lived in LeRoy they had a pay per bag system. You could buy 2 different sizes of bags and only those bags were picked up. You could buy the bags at the local grocery stores or town hall. I can tell you, I was on a VERY limited income but I always made sure to put a few dollars a week away for garbage bags. Maybe some of our LeRoy readers can comment as to whether this is still done or not. I haven't lived there in a long time. Bud?
Posted by bud prevost on September 30, 2009 - 5:55am
Hi Beth- Leroy uses stickers now, as the bags were costly.It costs 1.75 a bag, and 5.00 for large items, like a chair or old stove. It seems to work well, and we also have the option to hire a private contractor. While the idea of garbage pickup as a muni service sounds convenient, I like the way it is done here. It is fairer to those who have little waste compared to large families. It also allows a private company to contract the services through the village, as opposed to having village DPW workers.
Posted by Beth Kinsley on September 30, 2009 - 8:05am
Thanks Bud. I would think that this would be a big incentive to recycle. I remember when LeRoy first moved to a pay per bag system there were fears that people were going to be dumping their garbage into dumpsters, the side of the road, etc. but I don't recall that being a problem. No one wants to put their garbage into their car and sneak around under cover of night to dump it somewhere. Easier to just get a sticker.

Is there a limit to how big the bag can be that you put a sticker on? I can see a run on contractors bags at Walmart.
Posted by bud prevost on September 30, 2009 - 8:50am
lol..50 lbs is limit, but you can sneak it to 70 or 80....shhh
Posted by J Clark on September 30, 2009 - 9:27am
The currant system works but needs to revised . I have three people in my house and very rarly have more than one bag of garbage a week . The only way I can achieve this is by recyling . We have three recycle containers and I use at least two every week . There is no monetary benefit from recycling but it feels good , and I know I am making a difference along with less garbage bags I have to buy . Many of my nearby neighbors don't recycle and have many more bags out at the curb . I propose lowering the number of bags allowed to encourage recycling .
After all it is a city law that everyone is to recycle .
We could also charge more for multi-family dwellings insted of basing it on value of home .

The point is , we as a community need to recycle more than we do .