How Will Trash Fee Affect Your Bottom Line?
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How Will Trash Fee Affect Your Bottom Line?
Catherine Lucey and Bob Warner
In one fell swoop, the city’s proposed $300 trash fee will eat up more than half the money that an average Philadelphia household is saving from the small, incremental wage tax reductions that the city initiated in 1992.
The mean average income for a Philadelphia household was $50,673 annually in 2008, according to the U. S. Census Bureau. Wage taxes on that income are now 3.9296 percent, or $1,991 per year, a savings of $522 from what the same household would have paid before the wage tax reductions began.
Mayor Nutter and City Council suspended the wage tax reductions two years ago at the beginning of the national recession, but they are scheduled to resume in the 2014 fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2013.
Comments (30)
Not to worry. By 2013, the city will have been declared a "superfund zone" by the amount of illegally dumped trash in vacant lots. The maggot infestation will reach a level never seen even in horror movies.— DonQ- People are going to be charged if they own a home regardless if there is trash to be picked up or not. Who is going to dump trash when they have to pay anyway? Renters won't be paying, landlords will.— doublestandard
- People are going to be charged if they own a home regardless if there is trash to be picked up or not. Who is going to dump trash when they have to pay anyway? Renters won't be paying, landlords will.— doublestandard
- One Term Mayor
- I will pay the fee once they collect all the back taxes Water bills and Gas bills from all the dead beats in North Phila.— Goodhands
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- I live in a condominium that has to pay for their own trash pickup. The city better not try sending me a $300 bill!— mindstorms
- I live outside the city- thank God. But here in the burbs where houses are MUCH more spread apart (and harder to service- more fuel, far fewer houses that can be served per hour) I "only" pay $360/year. Certain condo/townhome communities which are closer together- and can negotiate rates- pay much less. $300/year is a RIPOFF. Make it a tax, call it a tax and take flack for it like ANOTHER wallet grab.— superfly
- Bad idea. What if people don't pay? Will the city skip over them? Some municipalities limit the number of cans [yes, I did say cans] they pick up, then you have to put the excess in bags that cost $2.50 or so.— fillyfan
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- How about the weeks they don't collect like last week here in my neighborhood do we get a refund ????????????????— RichH
- Comment removed.
- $300/year for trash pick up is NOT a ripoff. The amount this charge would generate would just be enough to pay for what the sanitation department costs in salaries and benefits. You could privatize trash pick up but the cost per house would not be significantly less than 5 bucks per week.— foreclosure11
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Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns. E-mail tips to brennac@phillynews.com
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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