| The residents of Spokane are charged $31 million a
year by the City of Spokane to have their trash collected, and
then the City of Spokane taxes itself 20% on that $31 million
($6 million), and puts that amount into their general
fund. No wonder City residents collection rates are higher than
the rest of the county. Here's how the $31 million in
Garbage Collection fees get's
spent:
| City taxes |
$6,000,000.00 |
| System Fees |
$12,300,000.00 |
| Garbage Collection |
$9,300,000.00 |
| Maintenance |
$3,000,000.00 |
| Administration |
$2,000,000.00 |
| System Rebate to City |
(1,600,000.00) |
| Total |
$31,000,000.00 |
The City of Spokane takes 20% of the pie. The bigger the pie,
the more money they take. Spokane has no interest in reducing
any of these costs, because it would reduce the revenue stream
to an already cash strapped Spokane. And it's probably why they
won't renegotiate their contract with Wheelabrator (a very large
chunk of the pie).
Did you happen to notice how small the Garbage Collection piece
of the pie is? There's certainly a lot of room for savings in
this picture.
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