THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504270125
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Vice Mayor W.D. Sessoms Jr. wants the City Council to reconsider a garbage fee.
He's not committed to the idea of charging to pick up residential trash, but Sessoms said it might be a way to help local businesses by more fairly distributing the tax burden.
Only single-family houses receive city garbage pickup, although all property owners - including condominium owners and businesses - now pay taxes to subsidize the service.
Two years ago, the city manager recommended that the council reduce the real estate tax rate by charging separately for residential trash pickup. The council did not adopt his recommendation.
Several council members said Tuesday that they wanted to know more about the impact such a fee would have before deciding whether to support it.
Budget director E. Dean Block presented the council with a policy report on the proposed collection fee. The council only discussed the report briefly on Tuesday but plans to examine it in detail May 2.
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said she was ``very uncertain'' about the fee.
``I don't know enough about it,'' she said, ``but I wasn't in favor of it the last time.''
Sessoms said the fee could improve the city's business climate, because taxes on business would drop if they no longer had to pay for municipal garbage service they don't receive. Only residences receive city trash pickup.
Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are the only Hampton Roads cities that do not charge a collection fee, according to Block's policy report, although most subsidize the fee with general taxes.
The report cites several benefits and pitfalls to charging a garbage fee.
Right now, the owner of a vacant lot pays as much for trash pickup as the owner of a three-bedroom house bustling with children. And residents of nearly 30,000 condominiums, apartments and trailers must pay for waste collection although they do not receive the service.
If a garbage fee were imposed, the people who do not benefit from trash service would not pay for it.
A fee would eventually provide a financial incentive to recycle, according to the report, by charging people less for producing less waste. Initially, the fee would be a flat rate, Block said, with a use rate phased in over time.
User fees can be expensive to monitor and bill, however. And, like other municipal taxes, they are regressive, that is, the fee is charged regardless of income, so a low income family could end up paying more than a wealthy one.
To pay for garbage collection entirely with a fee, households receiving the service would have to pay $166 per year, or nearly $14 per month, Block's analysis concluded.
The council also could decide to charge a fee to offset but not entirely fund garbage collection. That reduced rate could bring annual bills down to $94 and monthly bills down to just under $12, according to the report.
Block did not say which fee, if either, he thought was appropriate. ILLUSTRATION: BUDGET DEBATE
A final public hearing on the city's 1995-96 operating budget and
six-year Capital Improvement Program will be held at 2 p.m. May 2 in
council chambers of City Hall. The council will hold its final
workshop later that day, and plans to vote on it May 9.
KEYWORDS: BUDGET TRASH FEES VIRGINIA BEACH CITY COUNCIL by CNB