[Vision2020] Moscow trash rates

[Bill London]

I wrote to the Moscow City Council to express my concern that the council plans to drop the Tag-it-all option for trash pickup rates.  The tag-it-all option rewards families like ours that focus on recycling with cheaper rates.   My message is reprinted below.
    Also reprinted below are the two messages I received in response (from Steed and Krause).  They both disagreed with my support for the tag-it-all option.  
    This message responds to those councilmembers and is also being sent to Moscow Vision 2020 since this is an important public issue that needs more public discussion.  BL
-----------
Council members:
    As I understand their messages, Steed and Krause don’t like the Tag-it-all option for 2 basic reasons.
    First, they claim Moscow residents will recycle without any economic inducement to do so.  That assessment is a violation of a fundamental tenet of today’s Republican/conservative belief structure – Republicans say that using economic incentives is the way to motivate people.  Steed and Krause may both be made of more noble stuff and do not need an incentive to recycle – but I think saving money through a tag-it-all system is a good way to get people to choose to recycle.
    Second, they seem to be worried that the tag-it-all system is filled with rip-offs.  However, since the existing tag-it-all system has been computerized, the scofflaws who were taking advantage of the system have been uncovered.
    To summarize, let’s support recycling and limit waste at the landfill – keep the tag-it-all option.
BL
    

From: Walter M Steed 
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2013 5:35 PM
To: Bill London 
Cc: Tom Lamar ; Dan Carscallen ; Wayne Krauss ; Sue Scott ; Tim Brown 
Subject: RE: trash

Bill, 

With a subject of "trash" I almost did not open your email.  The tag system has had its place as your use of it shows.  The problem is that ever since we have been able to have trash truck drivers check what is at the curb against what households are paying for, over two hundred new single can subscriptions have been entered. Apparently, for years, people have taken advantage of the system.

I do understand your argument and am pleased you see the value in the flip top, roller carts (just like the entire world except Moscow and a few other places now use).  

There will still be a pay for what you use option as there will be different size carts available at graduated rates.  The family of five will certainly need a larger cart than will you.  I do not buy the argument that people will feel obligated to fill their trash cart and not recycle as I would like to also see us move to recycle carts that they can feel obligated to fill as well.

Thanks for your email and comments,


Walter Steed, Council Member 
City of Moscow

1345 Ridgeview Drive
Moscow  Idaho  83843
208/883-0123

------------------------------------      

Bill,
Thanks for the email.
I see that Councilman Steed has already responded, so I will only add a few words.
My wife and I find ourselves in pretty much the same situation as you. We pay for each individual can we set out, which, depending on whether we have any house guests, may be 1,2 or 3 a month, but rarely 4. As you can see, the new system will cost me a couple bucks more a month also. This will in no way affect how much we recycle, which is quite a bit. I believe recycling is a mind set and certainly not something folks do to save money or for convenience.
Because of the extreme abuse by some people of the present system, it is time Moscow steps into the 21st century and follows the example of most other Cities.

Wayne Krauss
Moscow City Council



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Bill London [london at moscow.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2013 1:04 PM
To: Walter M Steed
Subject: trash


The Moscow City Council is talking trash.
The Council wants to make all of us use new upscale lidded and wheeled trash cans. That’s OK with me. The problem is how the Council wants us to pay for trash pickup.
We now have a volume-based billing system. The more you waste, the more you pay. And if you use waste only small amounts (relying on careful purchasing and committed recycling), you are rewarded with the cheapest rate of all – what they call the Tag-it-all option. That’s the option my family chose. We pay the $10.15 basic rate that every Moscow household pays, but we do not pay for the trash cans used weekly. Instead we pay $1.70 to buy green tags to place on our trash can when we do place it on the curb. Since we place our trash can out every 3 to 5 weeks, we save about $4 monthly over the single-trash-can rate.
Saving $4 a month ($50 a year) isn’t a big deal, but it is a real economic incentive to both buy with a goal of less waste and to recycle whatever you can.
It’s that incentive to recycle that the Council is planning to eliminate. 
Please do not kill the Tag-it-all option.
Bill London
Moscow 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20130112/b54c01d5/attachment.html>