Yard waste
On Sunday's radio show, i mentioned that i'd be putting up a post about the proposal to roll the yard waste program back into a property tax financed approach, which appears to be dead on the water, as City Council develops cold feet about taxes. I say that because last year, the city authorized the expenditure of $3 million to purchase the trucks necessary to start the program, but now is looking to cut a couple of cents out of the proposed property tax rate, and the yard waste program is top of the list.
I also wanted to disagree with my friend and neighbor Frank Hyman, whose column in the Durham News on Saturday was devoted to making it seem like picking up yard waste was a luxury we can't afford and don't need. Frank was spot on in calling for a repeal of the remaining two cent sales tax on food items at the grocery store. Taxing milk, bread, cheese, vegetables and the like is the single most regressive tax a municipality can implement. But in this case, even though the city gets a share of it, it's the County Commissioners, as i understand it, who'd have to repeal the tax. I lived in Arizona back in the 70s when that state voted to raise the general sales tax by a quarter cent in order to lift the tax from food. Would Durham residents make the same trade? I hope so.
But it's when Frank starts saying that eliminating the bus fare is a more important use of tax dollars than picking up everyone's yard waste that he heads in the wrong direction. Yes, Durham's bus system needs improvement. But there's no evidence that i've seen (and i've looked) that says people don't ride the bus because it's too expensive. Everything i've seen demonstrates that most Durham bus riders do so out of necessity, not choice. If you want to get the optional bus riders, you need to have buses that run more frequently, that actually go to where you need to go, instead of to the downtown hub, and bus stops that aren't, you know, dangerous and impossible to wait at. Somewhere around 10% of Durham bus stops have a bench to sit on, and fewer than that have a shelter from the elements. I've blogged about the bus stops nearest my house in the past, which lack even a sidewalk and turn into huge mud puddles with a slight rain. Improve the service, get more people riding, and there's no reason the bus system can't pay for itself, or come a lot closer than it already does. There are plenty of people who can afford to ride the bus right now who don't. Bring them into the transit system, give them a stake, and it will be a lot easier to find money to continue to improve transit in this town. But as long as those Durham citizens who are able to make a choice choose not to use DATA, the problem will exist.
On the flip side, why should yard waste be treated differently from household trash? We would find it completely unacceptable if people were charged, say $75.00 a year to have their household trash picked up, and 75% of them opted out of the system. Every street corner would become a trash dump. (Not that Durham doesn't have more than it's share of dumping now anyway.) Frank is, as anyone who knows him can attest, a model citizen. When he says he manages to reuse every bit of yard waste and compost every food scrap in his house, he's telling the truth. For the record, i do a pretty good job with that stuff too. I've also been out on no fewer than two dozen trash pickups over the past 5 years, maybe more, all within a mile and a half of my house. And at all of them, i've encountered illegally dumped yard waste. Here's some pictures from the Beaver Pond cleanup last Sunday.
Yes, those are utility poles in the first picture.
Frank writes:
Sorry, Frank. It can't. The city relies on people like me to give up my free time to haul yard waste out of public spaces. I'm done with that. My free time is at a premium, and i'm reclaiming it. And i'd rather everyone pay 30 bucks a year (or 60 cents a week, if you want to put it in those terms) than just the relative handful of us who subscribe to the yard waste pickup program. A number which will decrease by at least one the next time the bill comes due.
To be completely honest, Durham, in many places, looks like shit. And when it looks like shit, people treat it like shit. If we had a city full of Frank Hymans, we'd be in much better shape. But we don't.
I also wanted to disagree with my friend and neighbor Frank Hyman, whose column in the Durham News on Saturday was devoted to making it seem like picking up yard waste was a luxury we can't afford and don't need. Frank was spot on in calling for a repeal of the remaining two cent sales tax on food items at the grocery store. Taxing milk, bread, cheese, vegetables and the like is the single most regressive tax a municipality can implement. But in this case, even though the city gets a share of it, it's the County Commissioners, as i understand it, who'd have to repeal the tax. I lived in Arizona back in the 70s when that state voted to raise the general sales tax by a quarter cent in order to lift the tax from food. Would Durham residents make the same trade? I hope so.
But it's when Frank starts saying that eliminating the bus fare is a more important use of tax dollars than picking up everyone's yard waste that he heads in the wrong direction. Yes, Durham's bus system needs improvement. But there's no evidence that i've seen (and i've looked) that says people don't ride the bus because it's too expensive. Everything i've seen demonstrates that most Durham bus riders do so out of necessity, not choice. If you want to get the optional bus riders, you need to have buses that run more frequently, that actually go to where you need to go, instead of to the downtown hub, and bus stops that aren't, you know, dangerous and impossible to wait at. Somewhere around 10% of Durham bus stops have a bench to sit on, and fewer than that have a shelter from the elements. I've blogged about the bus stops nearest my house in the past, which lack even a sidewalk and turn into huge mud puddles with a slight rain. Improve the service, get more people riding, and there's no reason the bus system can't pay for itself, or come a lot closer than it already does. There are plenty of people who can afford to ride the bus right now who don't. Bring them into the transit system, give them a stake, and it will be a lot easier to find money to continue to improve transit in this town. But as long as those Durham citizens who are able to make a choice choose not to use DATA, the problem will exist.
On the flip side, why should yard waste be treated differently from household trash? We would find it completely unacceptable if people were charged, say $75.00 a year to have their household trash picked up, and 75% of them opted out of the system. Every street corner would become a trash dump. (Not that Durham doesn't have more than it's share of dumping now anyway.) Frank is, as anyone who knows him can attest, a model citizen. When he says he manages to reuse every bit of yard waste and compost every food scrap in his house, he's telling the truth. For the record, i do a pretty good job with that stuff too. I've also been out on no fewer than two dozen trash pickups over the past 5 years, maybe more, all within a mile and a half of my house. And at all of them, i've encountered illegally dumped yard waste. Here's some pictures from the Beaver Pond cleanup last Sunday.
Yes, those are utility poles in the first picture.
Frank writes:
For my money, I'll keep paying a buck a week for the city to pick up what yard waste I can't use on-site. The city can manage any yard waste problems with small investments in enforcement and education.
Sorry, Frank. It can't. The city relies on people like me to give up my free time to haul yard waste out of public spaces. I'm done with that. My free time is at a premium, and i'm reclaiming it. And i'd rather everyone pay 30 bucks a year (or 60 cents a week, if you want to put it in those terms) than just the relative handful of us who subscribe to the yard waste pickup program. A number which will decrease by at least one the next time the bill comes due.
To be completely honest, Durham, in many places, looks like shit. And when it looks like shit, people treat it like shit. If we had a city full of Frank Hymans, we'd be in much better shape. But we don't.
Labels: City Council, Durham, transportation issues, yard waste
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10 Comments:
Thank you for expressing your passion about this issue, and for your many hours spent cleaning up other peoples messes.
I too am tired of picking up trash in my neighborhood - and were not just talking about candy wrappers and cigarette butts - but entire bags full of fast food, beer/liquor/fortified wine bottles, large car parts, microwave ovens, etc. Last 4th of July we were walking our dogs down the street and the passenger in a car actually tossed a big drink cup, full of unknown liquid, as they turned the corner flying directly in front of us. If I had a brick I would have thrown it at them, it made me so mad.
Some neighbors got together last Friday and took part in the new ComNET neighborhood survey. We covered the 100 - 500 blocks of E. Geer. During that survey we found several illegal dumping sites, which really make me mad. The trash dumped included piles of yard waste which just further confirms the need for universal yard waste pickup.
One of the city employees accompanying us asking us specifically about providing yard waste pickup to everybody - the response was unanimous -we all want to see it happen.
I'm with you - I will not be renewing my yard waste sticker this year. I'll be keeping track of which council members are deaf to the importance of this issue and vote accordingly next election.
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Steve Graff, at 10:09 AM
We need universal yard waste pick up. Durham has so many programs that are almost cool. We can curbside recycle all plastics and paper but we can't pick up leaves EVEN THOUGH we have the trucks for it and it will be a huge success - judging from the response it got at the INC meeting last summer when it was talked about.
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Natalie, at 12:33 PM
Barry - nice post. I'm mostly in agreement with you now (in contrast to my comment a couple weeks ago opposing it at BCR). I see the need, the tax deduction would be nice, and your photos are good illustrations. Dumping trash or yard waste, or simplying not cleaning it up in the first place sucks. But, I don't think it's gonna happen for 2 big reasons.
1) Most households who are NOT paying for it now will not approve of a tax hike to cover a service they obviously do not care about. Their "revealed preference" (as we say in my line of work) shows that they don't want it--they could have it now and choose not to. Dumpers, people who let their lawn grow 6' tall, and others who just don't care do not want to pay in any form, fees or taxes. I bet maybe 10% of current nonparticipants support this.
2) Residents in newer/suburban housing don't see your pictures and don't in large part see the need. Ride a bike through my current (American Village) or past (Woodcroft) neighborhoods on trash pickup day (Thurs-AV, Tues-WC). You will see lots of yard waste bins out, certainly well above the reported overall participation rate. These folks appear happy and the system is working well enough. So why would they want to pay more tax? I know it's probably break even (or even better with the tax deduction) but at first glance, it seems like gratuitous spending. Residents in these parts of Durham think the current system is working fine.
Older Durham neighborhoods appear to have the greatest need and benefit. But I don't see how the City is going to overcome perceptions of this being an extravagant program when this is clearly a tight budget year all around.
Derek
PS Back to the post on BCR - you said every city you'd lived in had a yard waste program. My experience is different. I've lived in MN, IA, MD, and VA and have never had this. A couple town made brief exceptions during leaf season in the fall but that was it.
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Derek, at 1:40 PM
Maybe we should take all of our yard waste to Frank Hyman's house? He might soon rather have universal pick-ups ...
I compost most of my yard waste, but where an I supposed to put all the tree limbs and large sticks that fall? Does Frank Hyman want to buy me a chipper?
Also, pine needles and pine cones do not compost. Maybe Frank wants those, too.
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Lisa B., at 1:52 PM
Derek - certainly all 3 cities i lived in in California had yard waste programs (Stockton, Lodi, Sacramento). In fact, all we had to do was put grass clippings, leaves etc. out in the street in front of our house, and a huge vacuum cleaner came by to suck them up. No containers, or anything. Tree limbs needed to be stacked, as i recall.
About 5 years ago, when the current program was implemented, i researched what other cities in NC were doing. Durham was the only one that 1) charged an entry fee to the program; and 2) charged an annual fee to participate; and 3) did not have a program in place for picking up all of the leaves in the fall. Granted that research is 5 years old now. but most cities had either #1 or #2, but not both, and virtually all had a mechanism in place for #3.
as far as whether or not most people would want to pay for this service, i go back to my household trash argument. Given the choice, i think most people would opt out of paying the city to pick up their garbage. And then where would we be?
Lisa - i like Frank. I wouldn't recommend that course of action. Unfortunately, like a lot of people who have commented on this topic here and elsewhere, i think Frank makes the mistake of projecting his needs ("i compost all of my stuff and don't need yard waste service") onto the community at large. There are real negative effects of having a yard waste program that only serves 20 - 25% of the city.
I did want to mention one additional thing. Many of you may have seen a notice in your most recent water bill about a change in the recycling pickup program that is being tested. Recycling would be placed in a single large rollout cart and picked up every two weeks. Michael Bacon suggested earlier that we could look at picking up yard waste on a biweekly schedule as well. That seems to me like a compromise worth looking into. Especially since we've already spent $3 million on the hardware.
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Barry, at 2:15 PM
Frank is right, on both the yard waste program and the sales tax on food. There are certainly more important things Durham should spend $3 million a year on than providing free yard waste pickup. Improving DATA’s level of service would be a great place to start. Whether that is improving routes, making them more frequent, or following Chapel Hill’s lead in making bus rides free, all of them would be a better way to spend that money.
Barry makes a good point about the lack of facilities like benches and shelters at Durham’s many bus stops. Interestingly, there are companies that would build and maintain shelters free of charge if Durham could manage to swallow having advertising on the shelters. Who would be willing to do that? The same companies who put billboards on the interstate. With reasonable controls on the size and content of the ads, this would be a good trade off for Durham to get a lot of shelters for free – at least outside of residential areas. Then Durham could use its own limited funds to put shelters at stops in residential areas as needed.
As I posted before, I don’t use the yard waste program now, and wouldn’t even if it were ‘free’. Between a mulching mower and pile of brush for the wildlife, I just don’t have the need for it. I live in a neighborhood built in the 60’s & 70’s with no sidewalks, no curb & gutter, and no storm drains – just a ditch by the road. There are even unpaved streets in the neighborhood. So clogging the drains is just not an issue. Some of my neighbors participate in the yard waste program, and some don’t. Either way, it does not seem to make a difference about which yards are kept up.
With Durham’s many service and infrastructure needs, I simply consider the weekly yard waste program a luxury Durham cannot afford.
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Todd, at 4:02 PM
Barry, thanks for the add'n info. I pretty much support the mandatory pickup. Especially with the sunk investment costs. The problem is that since it was originally voluntary, it now looks bad to make an optional service mandatory. If the original discussion several years back had been yea/nay for would Durham offer it citywide or not, I suspect it would have been different than the current debate. (Note: Durham may have had this discussion and decided to go voluntary--I wasn't following it in the past.)
So I am just pointing out the obvious--that not enough people are going to get fired up about this for the city council to approve it. It's DOA. I don't expect that to change anytime soon.
Biweekly pickup would be fine for me. Meanwhile, I've been trying to order a second yard waste bin to get more mileage out of my $60 annual fee (since it covers up to 4 bins!) but it's been a month and they can't seem to deliver my cart... despite confirming and reissuing the request through One Call & directly by fax. Sigh....
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Derek, at 4:57 PM
Derek - before 2003, yard waste pickup was included in the services the city provided, as paid for by your property and other taxes. It was not made a separate, opt-in program until then.
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Barry, at 6:30 PM
actually, i should amend that. prior to 2003, the city charged for a yard waste cart, but did not charge a separate annual fee for the pickup.
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Barry, at 6:37 PM
being one of those people who see the negative impact of yard waste being dumped into creek beds I must let you know that ENTIRE BLOCKS in East Durham FLOOD when it rains because the storm drains are clogged with leaves, sticks, and debris.
There are over 2 inches of water on the roads, yards have FEET of water in them and crawl spaces flood, damaging piers, vapor barriers, HVAC units, and the structural integrity of home.
This happens whenever we have a good soaking. If Durham would provide a free and easy way to get rid of your yard waste (as they used to do) then the impact teams could focus on clogs caused by stoves, fridges, beds, and other large items instead of those caused by yard waste that is in the storm drains.
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Natalie, at 9:06 AM
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