BAY CITY —According to a story in the Bay City Times, a curbside recycling program that started in August might eventually lead to completely privatized trash and recycling services in the future.
Households started paying a $2-per-month fee under the new recycling plan. In a year, the city plans to cut the 2.6 mill tax that is now assessed on residences and replace it with a user fee for the pickup of all trash and recyclables. That could make a switch to privatized service relatively easy.
Patrick J. Sayen, president of the Utility Workers Union of America, Local 542, which represents the city’s 14 trash collectors, told the newspaper he was "dead set against" privatization. "Now, if citizens have got a problem with trash," he said, "they can call the city. If you get these private firms in, who are they going to answer to?"
Another view is provided by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Michael D. LaFaive, Managing Editor of the Michigan Privatization Report. "Many cities are privatizing trash collection precisely because citizens would rather deal with responsive, accountable, and competitive private firms than hassle with inaccessible bureaucracies." LaFaive continued, "If customers are dissatisfied with one private rubbish hauler, another may be selected. If government is the only rubbish hauler, customers lose that option."
Meanwhile, Bay City students may soon benefit from private sector school management. The Bay City Board of Education this past summer began exploring the possibility of contracting with the Edison Project to manage at least one of the district’s school buildings. Edison already manages a public school in Mt. Clemens. (See MPR ‘96-03.)
