I wish I had been more diligent in following the agenda for city council meetings. If I had, then I would have known about the meetings in which Cleveland City Council discussed the trash collection fee. It has passed. Starting in 2010, city residents are going to start paying $8 a month to have their garbage picked up. The council did this with much reluctance, but found that the gaps in the 2010 budget needed to be filled, and were it not for this fee, we might lose a firehouse, a few police officers or something else. Since I am never short of opinions, here are my thoughts on this issue:
It is about time. In Portland, where we last lived, we paid over $35 a month per can to have garbage picked up. I was astounded when we moved here that nearly anything unwanted could simply be piled onto the tree lawn. Cleveland should have implemented this fee a long time ago. Paying makes citizens invested in their services, so by making them completely free, they are abused and over used.
Speed up the rollout of the curbside recycling program. This fee should not be thought of as a budget stop gap measure. If Cleveland really wants to make this a Green City on a Blue Lake, it needs to start taking garbage and garbage service seriously as an issue. This money raised needs to be earmarked to cut the costs associated with this department, and the start is by increasing recycling. Charging for garbage collection is great first step, but we also need to decrease the sheer volume of trash in this town. We need to limit what that monthly fee will pick up, and offer limitless recycling. Moving products from the waste stream into the recycling stream can decrease costs. Furthermore, recyclables are a commodity that can add to our city coffers, not draw from them. As long as we look at our waste stream in the same way, we are only putting a bandage on a flat tire.
How much will dumping cost? Unfortunately, Cleveland residents are selfish and poor. We already see people dumping their trash in alleys, empty lots, wherever. This has been going on while garbage service is free. So what is going to happen now that we have to pay for this service. Will the extra money cover the costs of cleaning up the city dump sites that appear? I hope that I am wrong in this area. My hope is that everyone will start taking responsibility for their waste and take it more seriously, but I am leery.
How will this law affect our already cash strapped citizens? It is a small fee. For most of us, $8 a month is small price to pay. That being said, many Cleveland residents can barely pay for food. There is an exception for elderly and disabled, but what about those who are already using food stamps and section 8 housing to stay alive. I worry that unscrupulous landlords are going to raise the rents of those most in trouble right now, in order to pay for the garbage service. Were we living in a city that had a good cross section of incomes, this would be less of an issue. However, it that were the case, we would not be having this budgetary crisis to begin with.
No matter what I have to say, Cleveland is still operating in the black, without raising taxes or firing police officers. Let’s hope that this trend continues, and Mayor Jackson and the City Council deserve Kudos for that! Read the council’s release.
