Lockport NY

6/30/11

The LUSJ reported on some of the costs.

By turning refuse collection duties over to the private sector, the City of Lockport should save upwards of $10 million in tax money over 10 years...

6/29/11

The LUSJ reported on the upcoming garbage system that is expected to be voted on next week.

A week from today, the Common Council is set to OK a contract with a private hauling company to collect all garbage in the city.

The vote is historic for several reasons, not the least of which is the city will get out of the refuse collection business and, over time, reduce its employment roll by nine.

Privatization also will bring curbside recycling service to residents, finally, about 20 years after it was introduced in every town around the city.

Also a pretty big deal, the trash pickup program that the city commissioned will relieve city taxpayers of the burden of paying for everyone’s garbage pickup based on their property value.

The new “variable cart” program invites all property owners to help set their own refuse disposal costs, based on how much they throw away versus recycle....

 A nice primer Q&A is also given. And remember to get as much big stuff out in the next few weeks before you'll have to pay to get rid of it, or hold onto it to put out one per month.

The Buffalo News posted a quick overview of the proposed property tax cap:

For all the talk about the property tax cap that seems headed our way, something has been kind of lost in the hubbub. The details...

...- A district's tax levy increase would be capped at 2 percent or the annual increase in the consumer price index, whichever is less.
- There is a way for schools to exceed the cap. If a district proposes a budget that exceeds the tax cap, the district would need 60 percent approval of the budget, rather than the standard 50 percent.
- If a budget fails to get voter approval, the district would have to submit a revised budget subject to a public vote on the third Tuesday in June. If this revised budget exceeds the tax cap, it would require approval by 60 percent of those voting.
- If the revised budget fails to get voter approval, the district would have to adopt a budget with no tax levy increase...

The article is dead on on one point: THE DETAILS. This affects almost every conversation out there. there needs to be easier access to public documents. In this internet access age, there should be no excuses to providing them for anyone to download and read.

But back on track....The Buffalo News also ran an article (editorial) a few weeks back on how the cap has affected Taxachuetts over the past 30 years.

Something happens as the green "Welcome to New York" sign fades in the rearview mirror when you cross into Massachusetts: Taxes go down.

They are lower on clothing purchases. On gasoline, on furniture, on alcohol and on a range of goods and services. On businesses. And personal income is taxed at a lower rate.
But, most noticeably, property taxes are lower.

As a result of a 30-year-old law limiting their annual growth -- the kind of plan under debate in the New York State Capitol -- sharply rising property taxes no longer dominate kitchen table discussions in Massachusetts...

The Buffalo News and LUSJ reported on a trash system meeting last night.

The city’s new privatized garbage disposal system won’t start until at least July 1, the Common Council learned Wednesday.

Dawn M. Timm, the laid-off former Niagara County solid-waste coordinator who has been working on Lockport’s plan, told the aldermen that the three prospective haulers thought the city’s plan to start in April was unrealistic.

The process, which began with the haulers being asked to submit comments on the plan’s structure before bidding, now calls for the final draft of the request for proposals to be posted by Feb. 28. The waste haulers will have until March 30 to submit bids.

“We’ll take about three weeks to chew over that and enter the negotiation phase,” said Timm, who is continuing to work on the city’s project as a volunteer.

She said the contract should be awarded in mid-May, and the first of the city’s five garbage routes will be privatized about six weeks later....

 Notable is where the "large item disposal" is heading:

One “bulk” item pickup per month, per property, to be included in the fee each property is charged for regular pickup. Bulk items are things such as a chair or other large item set out in addition to the trash can; the definition and maximum size/weight of a “bulk” item is also still being worked out.

•A “special circumstances” pickup, to be paid for by property owners in addition to their quarterly refuse fees as needed, for dumping of trash including construction-and-demolition debris. Basically, the property owner would contact the hauler and make arrangements for disposing of special debris alongside weekly trash; but the special debris wouldn’t be picked up unless the owner paid for the service.

The haulers discouraged an idea in the preliminary RFP, for a spring cleaning/”amnesty” month during which property owners could put as much trash out to the curb as they like. The city couldn’t estimate how many parcels would participate or how much would get thrown out, so the haulers said they’d have to guess themselves how many laborers and what kinds of vehicles, garbage trucks or bulldozers, would be needed, put a price on that extra service and write it into the contract

There should be a cost effective way to handle large items. Instead of one any time per any month and a big free-for-all month why not just the beginning of every month? It would seem to be more cost effective than special trips year round. Construction debris should still be the separate responsibility of the home owner or contractor. What else could there be to worry about on a large scale?

The Buffalo News reports a new policy by the Niagara County IDA for its three cities.

New small businesses in parts of Niagara County’s three cities will have a chance at tax breaks normally reserved for the big boys, under terms of a new policy at the Industrial Development Agency.  At the County Legislature’s request, the IDA worked out a plan for “opportunity zones,” which gives eligible businesses five years of exemption from all property taxes.

In Niagara Falls, the opportunity zones are along Main and Niagara streets and Pine and Highland avenues. Peter Kay, the city’s director of economic development and planning, said under the IDA’s criteria, the zones could have been “practically the whole city, because it was [distressed] census tracts and census tracts adjacent to them. Even DeVeaux Woods would have qualified.” So Niagara Falls decided to limit the zones, too.
“By throwing the whole city into the mix, it would actually harm the intent, because people who were on those [designated] streets could say, ‘I want to go down near the water and I’ll get all these tax breaks,’ ” Kay said.

In Lockport, Tucker isn’t limiting the available areas, but he’s hoping the opportunity zones will help him fill Harrison Place, the former auto parts plant at Walnut and Washburn streets that the city owns after foreclosing on the previous owner.
“I think it certainly can’t hurt,” said Tucker, who also is vice chairman of the IDA. “In these tough times I think it gives us an edge.”

 
It is nice to see a new policy targeting small business in areas of need. As wonderful as it would be to land a Hail Mary of a large new business, it is the small ones that really form the foundation of our economic health.

Some thoughts:

1) Will a portion of the investment be tied in permanent infrastructure improvement? Or in other words, even if the business does not make it, or decides to pick up and leave once the taxes kick in, will we be left with a new or updated building in the city?

2) What do we do to reward those who already took the chance? The article says "new businesses". Is there some other policy that would reward the expansion or large investment in an existing small business?

3) How will this be marketed? Is there a larger plan for what type of development we want to see and where? The article lays out how separate mayors are implimenting the policy. The fact that the entire areas of some are eligible (distressed or near distressed areas) should be eye opening to the need of short range tax sacrifices for long term growth. The growth still will not happen automatically. Focused plans are needed.

4) A system like this is needed for major house renovations etc. The low income housing programs are nice but a middle class is sorely needed for a healthy city and should also be proactively fostered. Move vacant city owned homes for $1 and offer similar tax breaks to reward those who have the means and are willing to take the risk at restoring a home. Strong contracts laying out the obligations a must. The structures are generating zero tax revenue as thay stand and surpressing those nearby.

I've sent an e-mail for more information. I'll post again if I find out anything else.

Both the LUSJ  and the Buffalo News have articles on the city's quest to institute a more comprehensive recycling program. Each paints a different picture on the impact of the cost estimates.

The Buffalo News mentions a creation of a garbage district to more fairly distribute the costs between single and multiple residences.

Alderman Patrick W. Schrader, D-4th Ward, said he’d like to see multiple dwellings and businesses pay more than ordinary homeowners for recycling. The only legal way to accomplish that is to establish a city garbage district, a proposal that has been floated occasionally for two decades

Other committee members said they want to work on making recycling the more attractive option to property owners. The city has no limits on what, or how much, trash it will collect or who’s allowed to dump; until it does, they suspect, the majority won’t have any economic incentives to recycle. Whether it’s limiting the number of bags per property per week, or requiring every property use a set-size trash can, or limiting municipal pickup for residences only, not businesses or tax-exempt entities, the city’s approach to trash handling needs radical change, they said.

“Where else do you see sinks, couches, mountains of trash set out to the curb and know it’ll all be picked up? It’s like anything goes,” said Dawn Walczak, Niagara County director of environment/solid waste management. “Recycling looks way better (economically) when reduce and reuse go alongside it.”

I was surprised by how encompassing Lockport's garbage pickup still is when I moved here. It is nice but is it the right thing to do, even from just a cost standpoint? The costs have to add up. Also, with how liberal the pickup standards are, I am always curious why people still find a reason to dump things in empty lots etc.

-MJ

Nice.

Image - Old Harrison Building, Walnut St. Lockport NY