Sanitation Fee Hits Home by Courtney Jaudon
Dickson County residents cringe when the bill from Dickson Electric Systems arrive. It is with a sense of dread that each individual opens the statement to see not only one bill, but two. The two bills are the current months electric bill and a sanitation fee officially passed by county commissioners on March 21,2011. The county citizens have never had the opportunity to vote down the fee.
The sanitation fee , also called solid waste fee, is only ten dollars a month. Ten dollars is not much to many people, but to the elderly citizens who live on fixed incomes it’s a big blow to the check book. The amount for a year is one hundred and twenty dollars. One hundred twenty in a year to senior citizens could be the difference between a medication, food, or paying a fee that they had no say to decline. There is a possibility for individuals to have the fee reduced to five dollars. To be reduced into half one would have to be over the age of 65, or disabled. To get rid of the fee, one needs to not live on the property, the property is uninhabitable, no dwelling on the land, or the land is not inhabited for over thirty days a year (Resolution). Even though the fee is reduced and the impact is only half of what it could be, it is still a hit in the wallet.
The hit in the residents wallets, is nothing compared to what the county debt is. The debt has been caused by a battle over illegal dumping and the effects to residents in the Eno Road area where the landfill is located. Plaintiff’s in the case, which began in 2003, have become sick from drinking water contaminated with trichloroethylene. Many of these people have had some form of cancer. Dickson County is not solely responsible for the illegal dumping. The company that dumped the chemicals was ordered to pay Dickson four hundred thousand dollars in stead of the four million they asked for. The four hundred thousand has only helped pay for part of the problem ( Channel 5). Almost ten years of legal fees and settlement cost, has left a more than one billion dollar deficit for the citizens to pay for. It kind of fall along the lines that things roll down hill. So like the county has to clean up the mess from the company that dumped illegally, a generation that is barely able to know what this lawsuit was about must pay to clean up the financial mess left behind.
This would not be as much as an issue and the electric system clerks would not have to field repetitive calls regarding this problem if the people could’ve had a vote regarding this. I personally understand this discontent from my neighbors because it’s not fun to open the bill and pull out two bills only to find out your normal eighty five dollar electric bill is now ninety-five and then to be reminded this on a monthly basis. As a “broke college student”, I know that one hundred and twenty dollars is unfortunately a text book for me or 4 tanks of gas. This is the first time, I remember not being able to vote on a fee for the county. As a kid, I recall going with my mom to vote and she would have to vote on county fees such as raising the wheel tax, or land taxes. On the other hand I do understand the revenue that this is generating for the county and I would hope once the lawsuit is paid for then there will be no more fee. In just the first five months of collecting this, ninety percent of recipients are estimated to be paying the waste fee. It has generated over one million dollars already (WDKN). Giving hope to resolve the problem sooner than later.
After nearly seven months of receiving these two bills in the same envelope, one would think the sting of the two bills would subdue, but the complaints and discomfort continue. Unfortunately, for Dickson County administrators a Public Relations nightmare that began decades ago still continues into another generation constantly being met with unhappiness and resistance.
Sources:
http://www.tennessean.com/assets/pdf/DN172132324.PDF
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13032429
http://wdkn.com/solid-waste-fee-on-target-to-produce-2-49-million-in-first-fiscal-year
Courtney Jaudon
Public Administration (R51-S12C)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As I read your post the first thought that went through my mind is a recent movie that I watched “Erin Brockovich” Lots of people got sick from contaminated water caused a local company. I am intrigued at the fact that the residents of Dickson County have not had the opportunity to vote on the extra $10 solid waste fee being added to the electric bill. That alone would be enough for me to move out of that county. Paying only 10% of the requested 4 million dollars should have not accepted. The company should be held fully accountable of fixing the problems, and not be places on the residents of Dickson County.
ReplyDelete