City Councilman: Trash Bins Come with a Price

Cranston City Council Vice President Michael Farina wrote the following. We're posting it in its entirety:

New automated trash pickup is coming to Cranston. It is a needed and welcome change that as a Cranston resident I appreciate. I am glad that this got done in 2014. 

There is however one issue that as a taxpayer I have a problem with. Mayor Fung and his administration have negotiated and approved a waste management contract that limits the amount of trash that will be picked up per household and the limit is one 65 gallon trash bin per household. A resident can purchase another trash bin at an additional cost of $150 per year. Without paying this fee no additional trash will be removed from a residence. 

This hidden cost associated with the new program has created a use tax for trash. Will the 65 gallon trash bin be enough for a household? Do people have more trash than the 65 gallon bin will allot for? No evidence has been presented to the people to show that the new 65 gallons is enough. No one has said how many of the residents will be affected by having to pay this new fee. The City Council did not have to approve the contract and had no input in the negotiations or the approval of the contract. 

Cranston is a bedroom community with a large population of nuclear families and their purse strings may need to be tightened due to the change and the citizens are the ones taking the risk. In Warwick trash bins are 90 gallons, they did not default to the smaller size and share a similarity in population density as Cranston. The city had the opportunity to get larger bins during contract negotiations but the Mayor and his staff went with 65 gallon bins on a judgment call and choose to pass any additional cost on to the taxpayer. 

Now the taxpayers in Cranston will have to come up with another $150 per year on top of already high taxes in Cranston. Cranston should have gone with larger bins or provided its citizens and the City Council with proof that the 65 gallon bin was sufficient. So as you read articles that herald Mayor Fung and his administration for getting new trash bins in Cranston know that they have created a new trash use tax and the citizens will pay the price.

Michael Farina is the Cranston City Council Vice President and represents the city as an at-large or citywide council person. 

Full details on the new city waste contract: 

New Waste Contract Will Save City $200,000

65 Gallon Bins, Automated Trash Trucks Coming This Summer