The proposed pay-as-you-throw trash collection program represents a major change in the way municipal services are delivered to the taxpaying public. Before the Concord City Council votes, there are many steps that should be considered.
First, let’s be straight about pay-as-you-throw. It’s a bag tax. The council will soon be asking residents to pay extra for something they have always traditionally paid for through the property tax. This would be a major change in the way the city does business and could lead to other fee-based programs while not delivering lower taxes to the public.
The thinking is that forcing residents to pay for trash bags will motivate them to recycle more. The more folks recycle, the less trash will be put in the incinerator, lowering costs. The extra money will also eventually lead to weekly recycling pickup, something that is needed and will probably encourage more recycling.
The city also wants to implement a new recycling process with some of the bigger apartment complexes in the city, to lift the recycling rate.
These are all good public policy goals, but changing behavior is not guaranteed.
In fact, the bag tax might not increase recycling and could just be an extra $900,000 in the city coffers. If Concord was serious about increasing recycling, it would do a better job of outreach to the public now. Why not send notices in property tax bills informing the public how much the city can save if we just recycled more? How about putting together local public service announcements for radio and television? There are better ways than bagging residents with more fees.
While city officials seem blasé about the extra costs, in difficult times like these, many people could be harmed by the bag tax.
Apartment dwellers currently pay for trash collection indirectly through their rent. The proposed change will force renters to pay out of pocket for the service. Working families and seniors are going to pay hundreds of dollars more per year for trash pickup at a time when they can least afford it. Depending on how many food items a family consumes, you can recycle everything possible and even compost your food waste and still have three or four bags of trash a week.
Then there is the issue of the leaf collection.
Officials say that the pay-as-you-throw program is also being implemented to save the leaf pickup program. The state recently told cities and towns they cannot incinerate yard waste. Some have suggested that the public be asked to bag their leaves to make it easier for pickup and to assimilate with new state laws. But residents balked, saying it was too inconvenient to spend a few extra hours once a year to bag their leaves. Some have more leaves than others.
However, if the city is going to go to all the trouble to require everyone the inconvenience of paying the bag tax, why not require a bag tax or surcharge for yard waste pickup? Unlike leaves and sticks, picking up the trash is a clear municipal public health necessity.
If the city can no longer afford leaf and yard waste pickup, maybe the program should be eliminated. Those residents who want leaf pickup could hire private landscapers to do that work. It would mean more private sector and small-business jobs at a time when those folks are getting hammered by this economy. We need more debate, not more taxes.