8 min

One more swipe at Toledo's illegal tax/refuse fee:

Mar 31, 2007 Toledo Blade story when it all began:

A divided Toledo City Council yesterday [Mar 30, 2007] adopted a 2007 budget that establishes a $5.50 monthly trash collection fee $3 for those who recycle.
The trash fee, which is expected to raise $2.9 million in 2007, expires on April 30, 2008.

The fee is aimed at subsidizing the $16 million annual expense of unlimited weekly trash pickup and dumping in the city-owned landfill in North Toledo.

Feb 16, 2008 Toledo Blade story titled Toledo officials say canceling trash fee may be too costly

An idea to charge Toledo residents who don't recycle a higher trash fee and nothing for those who do recycle at the curbside is admirable, but may create a budget crunch, Bill Franklin, the city's director of public service, told a council committee yesterday.
"My problem is if everyone signs up [to pay] zero, we are getting zero revenue," Mr. Franklin said during a committee of the whole meeting.

Councilman George Sarantou acknowledged that the idea could increase recycling. "If the money doesn't come in because everyone is recycling, then you have a $4.8 million problem," Mr. Sarantou said.

Allegedly, republicans like Sarantou voted for Carty's illegal tax because the deal was that it would only be implemented for one year. But when the illegal tax brings in that much revenue, it's hard to say no.

Mar 28, 2008 Toledo Blade story :

Toledo City Council on Tuesday decided by an 8-4 vote to increase the city's trash collection fee to $7 a month for those who don't recycle and $2 a month for those who do.
The refuse fee will increase again on May 1, 2009, to $8.50 a month for those who don't recycle and drop to $1 for those who do.

Beginning May 1, 2010, the fee will increase again to $10 a month for those who don't recycle, and drop to zero for those who participate in recycling.

You can find a ton of refuse fee stories at the Toledo Blade, mainly between 2007 and 2012.

Current status of the one-year illegal tax that was meant to generate $2.9 million in 2007 but was extended beyond one year with the intention of charging recyclers zero dollars.

General Fund Revenue and Other Sources
Refuse collection fees total $8,800,000 for 2015.

Refuse collection revenue comes from a fee billed to citizens for collection services provided through Lucas County Solid Waste Management.

Refuse fees are unchanged from 2014. Regular/recycle customers pay $8.95 monthly, while homestead customers pay $5.00.

I assume that all $8.8 million are given to the Lucas County Solid Waste Management.

At about $9 million per year, that refuse fee is going nowhere. The only change would be an increase.

I don't know if it's possible to determine how much of this year's $8.8 million of refuse fee money is used by the county for Toledo's garbage pickup, and how much goes into Toledo's general fund for whatever usage.

I also wonder what happened to the taxpayer money that actually paid for our garbage pickup when the city collected our trash. We paid to have our trash collected long before the so-called refuse fee was contrived.

In my previous comment, I forgot to list the Blade stories that showed why the refuse fee was implemented. The obvious reason was to create a revenue stream to fix budget holes that were created by incompetent politicians. But the rationale spewed by officials to the public was to extend the life our beloved landfill.

Blade stories, published about a month before the one-year tax was set to expire:

Councilman D. Michael Collins, author of the proposed ordinance, said the incentive will increase recycling and thereby extend the life of the city's landfill on Hoffman Road.
The landfill has an expected remaining life of about 27 years. Building a new landfill would cost about $80 million.

Additionally, [Franklin] said people could pledge to recycle, but not actually do so - which subverts the goal of extending the life of the city's landfill on Hoffman Road.

Franklin made it very obvious that the real intention of the refuse fee was as a tax revenue stream.

"My problem is if everyone signs up [to pay] zero, we are getting zero revenue," Mr. Franklin said during a committee of the whole meeting.

It's just like with the traffic enforcement cameras. The goal should be to receive zero money from the cameras because that would mean safe driving, which we are told is the reason for the cameras.

For all the good changes that have occurred in Toledo over the past several years, when the city has grown dependent upon an illegal tax, traffic camera money and now a casino, it's not a good sign for the long-term health of the city.

At about $9 million per year, that refuse fee is going nowhere. The only change would be an increase.

Blade stories, published about a month before the one-year tax was set to expire:

Councilman D. Michael Collins, author of the proposed ordinance, said the incentive will increase recycling and thereby extend the life of the city's landfill on Hoffman Road.
The landfill has an expected remaining life of about 27 years. Building a new landfill would cost about $80 million.

Additionally, [Franklin] said people could pledge to recycle, but not actually do so - which subverts the goal of extending the life of the city's landfill on Hoffman Road.

When Mike Bell was mayor, the city sold or tried to sell precious landfill space to private haulers, which would be another revenue stream. But what happened to the concern about the lifespan of our landfill?

In February 2008, Franklin made it very obvious that the real intention of the refuse fee was as a tax revenue stream.

"My problem is if everyone signs up [to pay] zero, we are getting zero revenue," Mr. Franklin said during a committee of the whole meeting.

It's just like with the traffic enforcement cameras. The goal should be to receive zero money from the cameras because that would mean safe driving, which we are told is the reason for the cameras.

For all the good changes that have occurred in Toledo over the past several years, when the city has grown dependent upon an illegal tax, traffic camera money, and now a casino, it's not a good sign for the long-term health of the city.

The refuse debacle was or still is a shining example of Toledo government abuse and lies. It's a reason to distrust local officials and to always be skeptical of their rhetoric. Just like with the alleged water crisis last August.

Forget voting. That accomplishes nothing. Involvement with local orgs that actually help people will accomplish more. And many neighborhoods in the city need help. We're currently focused on an area in South Toledo.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2016/03/23/Mayor-dials-back-size-of-Toledo-trash-fee-hike.html

Toledo Public Service Director Bill Franklin said the city pays $15.2 million for the entire trash and recycling operation.
That includes paying $9.27 million annually for refuse and recyclable material collection; $4.36 million for landfill operations and capital costs; $1.08 million to hire a company to process Toledoans’ recyclable material, and $550,000 for administrative expenses.

The city now pays $40,000 a month for the service. That will soon jump to $90,000 — more than $1 million a year.

David Welch, commissioner of the streets, bridges, and harbor division, said Toledo will be hammered by a weak commodities market for items such as recyclable metal, plastic, and paper.

Also, Toledo pays more than other cities because of its “single stream” recycling, which allows people to dump all kinds of recycling in a single container rather than separating glass, paper, and metal, for example.

Nineteen percent of Toledo's recycling loads are contaminated with trash that people improperly put in the wrong containers, which also increases the cost, Mr. Welch said.

#toledo #politics #moronism

From JR's : articles
1505 words - 12289 chars - 8 min read
created on Apr 11, 2015 at 08:46:20 am
updated on Mar 23, 2016 at 10:48:13 am - #
source - versions

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Toledo stories about Toledo's illegal refuse fee tax