This was in the buffalo news. www.buffalo.com
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Take a closer look at garbage user fee bills
5/9/2004
I was appalled after reading The News article, "Change in trash collection." The proposed 20 percent increase in the city garbage user fee is unacceptable. I bought my city property three years ago and inherited the garbage user fee along with my home. As always, I paid my bills without question. Three years into my home ownership, I decided to take a closer look at the garbage user fee bill. To my dismay, I was shocked to read that I was being charged for two large totes.
My neighbor's totes are huge compared with mine, so I decided to contact the city to inquire about my bill. I was told that "I should have read my bill sooner," and that I would not be reimbursed for the overcharge.
Thus, I decided to have my two medium totes removed and have one large tote put in its place, which reduced my bill by nearly $15 per quarter. When discussing this with my neighbors, it was discovered that several of us had been overcharged for years.
My question is, if this is occurring in my neighborhood, how many more city residents are being overcharged and what is the city doing with the money? People should carefully read their garbage user fee bills.
Ron Hernandez
Buffalo
Citymouse,
Do you happen to know what the total amount collected is a year from the garbage fees? Was the 20% increased need for new equipment which once paid will allow the bill to go down 20%? OR is this for healthcost and pension increases? Or is this just another way to milk the tax payer to pick up thier garbage but then take the proceeds and fund some other department?
You pretty much hit it on the head.
The user fee was supposed to be a dedicated source of revenue for garbage pick up. Not trash, mind you, that comes out of the street department budget. The user fee is just for your blue tote.
It was supposed to make the sanitation enterprize as it was created, self sustaining. It was supposed to insure that tax exsempts like churches, paid for the garbage service, something they got for free when the service was provided out of the general city fund.
The city dosen't collect about twenty five percent of the fee. Alot of property owners are in arears some that I have heard owe upwards of two thousand dollars and have never paid the fee. The health laws state they have to be picked up and a lien will be assesed if they ever sell the property.
Comercial property is different. They can be fined and have the totes taken which is often what happens.
The city dosen't use the fee for what was intended and throws it in the general fund. If they could collect all that was owed and maintain collection in a timley fashion, the sanitation function would not only be self sustaining , but would turn a profit.
The unions jumped on board because they were decived into thinking that would be done and the problem of maintaing the sanitation work force would be solved. They agredd to concessions, reducing the work force changes in sceduling and even helped to implement it. The city never ran it the way it was supposed to be run, and guess who''s getting the blame?
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
reading
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacrament...08/story5.html
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Frequently Asked Questions
User Fees Frequently Asked Questions
Why a User Fee?
A user fee allows the City to charge All property owners a fair and equitable rate for the solid waste and recycling service that they receive. Without the user fee, tax dollars would be required to pay for these services as they have been in the past. Now instead of only 60% of the waste generators paying 100% of the services, everyone shares in the cost.
Aren't I Being Taxed Twice?
NO! The costs associated with the collection, processing and proper disposal of the City's solid waste and recyclables will be paid for from the user fee. These fees are placed into an Enterprise Fund. The dollars from this fund are ONLY generated through the user fees that are collected. The fund is NOT subsidized by your tax dollars, nor will the General Fund budget be supported by the funds generated from the user fees.
How did garbage service change under the User Fee?
Improvements in customer service in both the residential and commercial sectors will be seen immediately. In addition to enhanced customer service there will be improved recycling services. The improvements to the recycling services will include the collection of all recyclable materials each week instead of the every other week schedule that was the case in the past.
Why is the city charging for vacant lots?
Vacant lots generate waste (grass clippings, leaves, refuse, etc.) if they are maintained properly. The amount of waste generated is estimated to be one half of what the single home would generate for six months. If a vacant lot is not maintained properly, then the City must return these properties to a condition that is acceptable under the City's codes.
Do I have to pay separately for a lot that is attached to my property?
If you own a vacant lot next to your home, and you receive two tax bills, you will be sent two bills which you are required to pay unless you combine the parcels. If the title on your deeds match, you can combine the two properties at the Assessor's Office at City Hall. This is a FREE service. Combinations where the titles do not match can be combined through the Erie County Clerk's Office.
What is the fixed portion fee?
The fixed portion of the user fee is the overhead of operating the trucks and maintaining the operation thought out the city.
What is the variable portion of the user fee?
The variable portion of the bill is the cost of disposing of the garbage collected and is billed on the basis of the volume of refuse that your tote can contain.
How do I get a different tote?
Contact the Citizen Services Complaint Line at 851-4890 or submit a request over the internet.
Can I purchase my tote?
No. The tote is owned by the city and is allocated to the property.
I have requested a different tote, and have not yet received it.
Am I being billed for the old tote?
No. You are being billed for the tote you have requested.
When can I expect my new tote to be delivered?
We are delivering replacement totes as quickly as possible.
What should I do if my tote breaks?
Contact the Citizen Services Complaint Line at 851-4890 or submit a request over the internet.
Do you accept payments by phone?
No, but you can pay in person, pay through the mail, or online at this web site .
What kinds of materials should not be disposed of in my tote?
Hazardous materials (Paint cans, industrial chemicals) should not be disposed of using the tote, and may result in your receiving a citation for improper use of the tote.
When is my payment due?
Payment must be received within forty five days of the billing date.
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by WNYresident
[B]reading
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacrament...08/story5.html
----------------------
Frequently Asked Questions
User Fees Frequently Asked Questions
Why a User Fee?
A user fee allows the City to charge All property owners a fair and equitable rate for the solid waste and recycling service that they receive. Without the user fee, tax dollars would be required to pay for these services as they have been in the past. Now instead of only 60% of the waste generators paying 100% of the services, everyone shares in the cost.
Aren't I Being Taxed Twice?
. These fees are placed into an Enterprise Fund. The dollars from this fund are ONLY generated through the user fees that are collected. The fund is NOT subsidized by your tax dollars, nor will the General Fund budget be supported by the funds generated from the user fees.
Ques. has anyone everseen an audit done of the user fee and can a seperate account balance sheet showing input and output be produced?
Do I have to pay separately for a lot that is attached to my property?
The fixed portion of the user fee is the overhead of operating the trucks and maintaining the operation thought out the city.
They have not bought one new vehicle in five years the fleet is falling apart . They did change over two of the recycling trucks into garbage packers. But they have not replaced any vehicles in the fleet as they are removed.
What is the variable portion of the user fee?
The city has mismanaged this fund as they do everything. Here you have a dedicated source of revenue to maintain this function and they still blame the workers. If they would have done it right like it was created to operate then sanitation would be self sufficiant.
The unions tried and tried to get an audit of the enterprize done done but the city dragged it's feet and after all these years still hasn't produced one.
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
As an example lets say the home owner pays $200 a year to have thier garbage picked up. Can a local businessman now go and say, i'll pick up your garbage for $149.95 a year? EVen throw in an extra service and lysol the garbage can once a month?
Give the comsumer a little extra compared to the current business doing the garbage removal now?
It's a business citymouse if they are charging a user fee. A user fee = a bill. A private company would give a bill for a service. Or would a private company that offered the service in buffalo be stoped by the "Current" union "Business" ?
WOuld a new business be charged more at the dump to unload the trucks compared to the "Current" union " Business"?
There's one heck of a business there. You are given a "protect" area of service while the city does the billing for you.
Comercial business can go anywhwere they want. residential is strictly city pick up.
The city put out feelers for residental pick up a few years back and no one could match what the user fee now charges. No one could come close.
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
But now they raised the fee up 20% from, what i read in the paper? now is it more profitable?
How many house holds are picked up anyhow?
I remember someone stating something that if the garbage was privatized, the company would just raise rates once they got the contract. Isn't that was the city is doing?
Not exactly.
The city has had some exoirience in the past with privitization, for example the transfer station, where they were loballed on a bid and once the city got out of the business BFI raised the rates and increased the tipping fees making it more cost effective for the city to resume transfer operations again.
They have again gone to a private company, but this time they lease the transfer station to the county, who contracts the service out.The city as part of the agrement paid no tipping fees but I think the current agrement is about to expire and they will be charged, I am not real sure about that or what the current arangment is.
Asfar as charging twenty dollars more, I have no idea what that is all about. I thought I heard the mayor say they were going to incorporate the trash pick up into it, but they are going to reduce the pick up from twice to once a year. Besides the user fee is for the garbage enterprize which is just the blue tote, grass and yard waste in clear bags and two pieces of bulk trash.
The other pick up is payed for out of the general fund.
As I said they never produced an audit of the user fee so no one really knows if the fee funds the sanitation, and only the sanitation, like it is supposed to.
No one knows how much they actually collect and how many aren't bothering to pay.
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
You would think a local tv station would read what we are talking about here and look into the matters. Would make a nice story watching the garbage money people dance around thier story. They should of proper records of where the money is used? shouldn't they?
So if I was a city resident, and my best freind lived out in the boonies.
Could I not pay the user fee and take my refuse out there to be burned etc? Or just because I live in the city do I have to pay?
Another idea,
I own a business which I used a dumpster for. I pay for the dumpster. If i elect to never throw garbage out at the curb can i get a discount seeing I'm not using the service?
If you are a residential home owner you have to pay. You have no choice.
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
Commercial properties can have a private dumpster, a private pick up or they can go thru the city. Residential property owners do not have that luxury.
"If you want to know what God thinks of money just look at the people he gave it to."
By the way, what happened to biker? I miss the old coot.
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