Quote:
Originally Posted by djforsberg
I wholeheartedly agree. I also think the cost of garbage pick-up should be on our bills with a majority of the cost based on the weight that was picked-up. Especially after compost pick-up is introduced.
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Keeping Recycling on its own is weird. Sends the wrong message. It's a basic municipal service across the country - just because it's
relatively new doesn't mean that it should be handled differently than other services such as garbage. Having recycling stand alone keeps residents' focus on the cost of the recycling program... but they never get to see what the actual cost of garbage is (collection, landfill operation, etc). Makes recycling seem like the expensive item, because we can see a clear, direct cost. If we need to have one of these services stand-alone with a clear, direct cost, I'd vote for garbage... remind me how much it costs.
On this note, I'd actually like to see everything (including
fixed water-related charges) on my property tax bill. Show me exactly how much of my property taxes go to police, fire, transit, garbage, recycling, water, sewer, libraries.
Ottawa does this - and it's a good reminder of what we pay for (e.g.: in Ottawa, we paid $300/yr for Transit in 2007... whether we used it or not. Compare this to the $41/yr we paid for waste management; $125 for Fire; $250 for Police; or $450 for Education... also signals relative importance of certain municipal expenditures).