Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Overland Considers Expanding FREE trash pickup

Overland has offered free trash service for the past three years to residents whose income is no more than 150 percent of federal poverty guidelines. The City Council is considering raising the qualification level to 160 percent, to include more people. A total of 108 households now qualify under the 150 percent guideline.

The council agreed on Monday night to consider the change, beginning in August; later, the council also will consider asking voters to approve the city's first park sales tax, a half-cent, on the November ballot.

Increasing the income threshold for trash payment assistance was promoted by council member Ken Owensby. City trash service bills are about $22 a month. But Owensby was quick to oppose the sales tax proposal, saying residents couldn't afford it and the election cost itself would be a waste of funds.

Councilman Jerry May said the council got a city attorney's opinion in 2008 that the free trash service program is illegal, but other members disputed this. An attorney's opinion will now be secured in writing, the council agreed.

In the meantime, Overland is one of the few St. Louis County cities where voters can approve a park sales tax but have not yet done so, officials said. Projections show that it would produce $1 million for parks and/or stormwater services annually.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_85a5751a-ffd0-5125-b5f9-6888b9645904.html#ixzz1S0q0RzhN

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:09 PM

    to me the tax in overland was paid for free trash pickup, and any other option is double dipping.
    Where is this money going? As a senior citizen on a fixed income and to boot I am a widow and this is killing me. I cannot afford any more money to go down the rat hole. As I see it this is just money for wild acres or other waste of our hard earned money. Maybe I don't work today at 85, but I worked for 52 years and feel that I am still a valuable person to my community and to my family. Why not pull the shades off your eyes and see what you area doing to us?

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  2. Anonymous9:39 AM

    This is the way that St. Louis County should have set up their trash program. They should have found a way to fund the program before forcing it down the throats of tax payers.

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