Recycling was made mandatory without the consideration of the residents of Spring Hill. Most of us are on fixed incomes. Now, the state has approved a telephone service increase. Everyone is getting on the bandwagon.
I have not participated in the recycling program since I was given the bins. They have been sitting on my property for more than two weeks with a note to please take them. They are heavy when empty. I am 80 years old and don't intend to jeopardize my health. Furthermore, we are doing the dirty work and have to be charged for it.
Why should we be told how to spend our money? I give all my newspapers to the church. Why not let them make the money?
My blood just boils when I read the pros and cons on the recycling program. I hope to see the bins off my property real soon, and I am not paying the charge.
-- Jennie Bove, Spring Hill
Let's call it what it is: more taxes by force
Editor: I am a resident of Spring Hill and I am against any tax by force, such as the so-called recycling fee.
I have been following the remarks about it in the newspaper and the people who call it a "recycling fee" to save the landfill seem to have missed the point. This ruckus is not about recycling. It is about money.
At the beginning of the new so-called service, I called Waste Management and told them I was against the forced payment being added to my garbage collection bill. The lady I talked to on the phone told me I didn't have to use their service, but I would just have to pay the money.
I don't need them to recycle my $4 or $5. I have plenty of other bills and taxes to take care of that.
I closely watched our County Commission in action last Tuesday. The chairperson seemed to light up when one of the board suggested attaching the money to everyone's property taxes. Now, they can take our homes if we don't agree with forced payments.
-- Ernest Franklin, Spring Hill
Mandatory recycling fee doesn't make sense
Editor: If I separate the newspapers, cans and plastics from my regular garbage and put them in the blue and green containers, then Waste Management won't have to come twice a week for garbage collection. Will they reduce our quarterly rates to half?
Many single people live in homes, villas and condos, and to put out two soda cans and a plastic milk container in the bins each week is ridiculous. We also carry our newspapers to the church each week. So, what will we put in the bins? Why the mandatory charge?
Leave it alone. The big bins by the shopping centers do the job. It eliminates the cost of the big hauling trucks and blue/green bins.
The senior citizens live off pension and Social Security checks. Certificates of deposit pay next to nothing. Those checks never increase in value. Meanwhile, property taxes, house insurance, car insurance, medical insurance, medical bills, phone bills, water bills, maintenance bills, Bright House and gasoline costs are constantly going up, up, up.
-- Effie Reinhardt, Spring Hill
Businesses also need to join in recycling
Editor: Recycling is great, but what about the businesses? Why don't they recycle?
Go to any Dumpster and you will find it filled with cardboard boxes and other debris. The small businesses need to do their part, too!
-- Linda Stefaniak, Spring Hill
New fees place bigger dent in people's wallets
Editor: We are an octogenarian couple living on a fixed income. In January 2003, we received a $14 increase in our Social Security checks. But look what has happened this year to increase our cost of living beyond the increase from Social Security.
The County Commission said no to an increase in the property tax millage. Likewise, the School Board. They don't need to. The property appraiser raises taxes for them by increasing property values.
Then along comes the recycling - another cost. Now the county commission will add a stormwater tax. And don't forget Gov. Jeb Bush, who before the last election said he would veto the bill that would increase our phone rates by as much as $7 per month, but signed the bill during the last legislative session. Thank you, Jeb.
Can the commission think of any other way to put their hands in our pockets?
Watch out for the water and sewer rates if they get control of Florida Water Services.
-- S.E. Ross, Spring Hill
[Last modified September 16, 2003, 03:59:55]
