I you had some of the large producers in town bring there garbage else where and some of the people who could afford it get dumpsters it would lower the transfer staion cost in some ways

less trash= less fuel to hall the waste and less tipping to merc to except the waste= savings.

It also = less waiting for me on a Sunday morning!

If there are people who can afford private trash hauling and people who can’t, how is that “equitable”? If the town cannot tax trash hauled by someone like Waste Management, then those folks aren’t paying into the town at all for their trash that would be under PAYT – and that would probably be those folks who produce the large amounts. So those that produce the most trash probably will take their trash elsewhere (if they don’t already) – so their taxes have been lowered and they are not paying that money back in at the transfer station. And the money & trash are probably going out of state, not just out of town.

The other wastes you mention all have some type of “hazardous” label attached (i.e. freon in the refridgerators, mercury in the florescent lights, waste oil and coolant, etc) so the town would be in violation of state & federal law if it didn’t control that – and they are using those funds to pay fees to the the state and federal govt to handle and dispose of it. So no, I would not imagine there’d be much complaint over that – either pay for the hazardous waste you bring in or you pay higher taxes in fines to the state & federal government?

This is not “lower tax bills and higher services” this is the same service – just being taxed for differently. And the “large producers” will find a way to avoid paying the PAYT and all the smaller households will be left, literally, holding the bag.

If PAYT will not raise more money that transfer station expenses, then it is simply a shifting of taxation – and again, the larger producers will either pay the higher amounts and, assuming that they are businesses, will raise their prices, thus passing that higher cost onto whoever uses their services or purchases their products – or they will just have their trash hauled outside of the town, paying the town nothing for that service at all but getting their tax bills reduced like everyone else.

I realize that there are more people for this initiative so my few comments here will not ripple that ocean of acceptance. I do hope that in the long run, this is a good move for the town and it will save money or at least “break even” and my gloomy thoughts will not come to pass.

But it still kind of makes me wonder how much the Town thinks this will help them financially. And I do have some concern that they are rolling this out at a time where people are struggling to make ends meet and heat their homes and put food on the table. Those are the people who can’t afford someone like Waste Management or possibly any other contract service and now they will have to pay for their trash at the transfer station. Granted, raising property taxes wouldn’t help those people either, but this just seems like a bit of a slap in the face on top of the already troubled economy. Just my opinion.

Taking from previous posts:

The Town can regulate those who uses the town’s Transfer Station, and those that use the Town’s contract with MERC bringing waste from S. Berwick. It can’t impose regulations on waste that is managed outside that system, and at other facilities, such as through Waste Management. If waste goes to other facilities that have no contractual relationship with the Town; that’s “free trade”. Otherwise it’s called “flow control”, and it’ not legal.

Article II of the Ordinance – Flow control : Originally adopted in 1987. These provisions were in place to support the Town’s commitment AT THAT TIME to MERC. Subsequently almost 20 years ago, these types of “Flow Control” provisions were found unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. They remain illegal.

In any event, even without amendment, the existing ARTICAL II is not attempted to be applied in Town. Waste Management, and maybe others, have been servicing my home for many years, taking the material to their landfill in Rochester, NH (quite legally).

The logic is: if the waste is not being managed by the Town, through Town contracts, the Town has no involvement, financial or otherwise. It’s as though the waste does not exist from the Town’s perspective.

People are free to contract with a service, as an individual with free market opportunities, that does not use Town facilities or contracts.

Bill, contractors have to pay “tippng” fees no matter where they take it so there are systems in place to dispose of trash “legally”. As for environmental concerns – well, drive the roads leading to the dump and see how much trash falls off people’s cars. Should the town be concerned to pick that up? Most places have fines for littering, but even those are hardly enforced.

I don’t believe the motivation here is concern over trash being disposed of properly or legally or environmentally friendly. Most people have done the whole “recycling” thing already since it’s mandatory. PAYT is simply a way for the town to “reduce” our property taxes by “taxing” our trash!