Who voted for the higher waste fee?
Last Tuesday at 2:15 PM, a decision was made that will hit your pocket starting April 1st. 11 councilors raised their hands for the new rate, and we checked exactly what they said on camera. No fluff – here are the clear facts about your money.
January 14th Session: Minute by Minute
The meeting room was only half full when the chairman opened item 7 of the agenda. The clock showed 2:17 PM. The atmosphere was tense because everyone knew that the draft resolution assumed an increase in the fee from 28 PLN to 41 PLN per person. This is a jump of 13 PLN per month, which for a family of four means 624 PLN more per year. Councilor Andrzej Baryła started with fuel cost calculations, which, according to the municipal company's report, increased by 18% over the last 7 months. We checked this data at the source and indeed, the price of diesel for the garbage truck fleet jumped from 5.82 PLN to 6.47 PLN per liter.
The discussion lasted exactly 43 minutes. 6 people spoke, most of whom focused on the rising costs of waste disposal at the Regional Processing Facility. Currently, the municipality pays 412 PLN per ton of unsorted waste, while in March last year it was 337 PLN. No one present proposed an alternative or cuts in the company itself, which currently employs 34 drivers and 58 loaders. Instead of looking for savings internally, it was simplest to take money from the residents' pockets. So much for the substantive preparation for the session.
The final vote took place at 3:02 PM. The result was almost a foregone conclusion: 11 votes 'for', 5 'against', and 2 abstentions. Simply put – most councilors decided that the budget must be built on the backs of taxpayers. We wrote down the list of names from the official minutes so you know who to ask about the reason for this decision next time you see them at the market or outside the church. Councilors supporting the increase argued that the system must be self-financing, but they forgot to mention the 112,000 PLN in bonuses paid to the waste management board in December.
For a family of four, this decision means 624 PLN less in the household budget every year. That is a fact, not an opinion.
Why do neighbors pay 32 PLN, and we pay 41 PLN?
We did a quick tour of the surrounding municipalities to compare rates. The results are striking. In a municipality just 12 kilometers away, residents pay 32.50 PLN. Why? The local mayor signed a contract with a smaller, private company that operates 7 modern garbage trucks with lower fuel consumption. In our case, the system is based on an old, municipal company where the average age of vehicles is 11 years. These machines consume an average of 34 liters per 100 kilometers in the city cycle. This is 6 liters more than newer models, which, over 22 working days, generates huge, unnecessary costs.
Another reason for the difference is the sorting system. In the neighboring town, the segregation level is 47%, which allows them to sell recyclables for a higher profit. In our case, this rate is stuck at 31%. This means more waste goes to expensive incineration instead of recovery. This was mentioned only once during the session, for 2 minutes. No one presented a plan on how to mobilize residents for better waste separation, beyond a general slogan about education. Simply put – we are paying for a lack of modern management and old habits.
We checked this at the source in the finance department: the municipality subsidizes the system with 214,000 PLN per month from other taxes so that the 'hole' isn't even larger. The increase is intended to fill this hole to zero. This means that your real estate taxes, instead of going towards new sidewalks or lighting on Polna Street, will be literally burned in a furnace. This is the painful truth about local finances that councilors don't talk about in their election leaflets. No fluff – the system is inefficient and expensive.
List of names and arguments of councilors
We analyzed the recording of the session to catch specific statements. Councilor Maria Wójcik (Voted for) stated: 'We have no choice, otherwise we will go bankrupt'. These are strong words, but she did not support them with any calculation of profits and losses. On the other hand, Councilor Janusz Borowiec (Voted against) pointed out that 14 people work in the administration of the waste company, which is 5 more than three years ago. He asked whether these additional positions actually improved the speed of bulky waste collection. He did not receive an answer by the end of the proceedings. So much for substantive dialogue in our office.
Here are the names of the councilors who raised their hands 'for': Nowak, Kowalczyk, Wójcik, Mazur, Kaczmarek, Zieliński, Woźniak, Szymański, Kozłowski, Jankowski, and Wojciechowski. Most of them have been on the council for at least 6 years. The average age in this group is 52. During the debate, one of the councilors, Mr. Zieliński, honestly admitted that 'the increases are unpopular but necessary'. When asked by a resident from the audience if he separates waste himself, he only smiled to himself. This shows the distance between decision-makers and the daily life of an ordinary citizen.
It is worth adding that 2 councilors abstained from voting. This is a safe position – you don't support the increase, but you don't block it either. Such an attitude often stems from a desire to save face before both sides of the conflict. However, there is no room for abstaining from payment in a household budget. The bill will come in the mail, and you will have to settle it by the 15th of each month. If you are 3 days late, the system will charge statutory interest. The state is very efficient when it comes to enforcing your obligations.
11 councilors decided that the budget must be built on the backs of taxpayers. We have listed those names.
What can you do to pay less?
Despite the new resolution, there is one way to lower the bill that was whispered about during the session. If you have a single-family house and set up a composter, you can apply for a discount. It amounts to 5.50 PLN per person per month. For 4 people, this is a saving of 264 PLN per year. This is the only real mechanism that allows you to legally escape the full scale of the increase. Last year, only 83 residents of our municipality used this option. This is very few, considering we have over 1,200 households with a garden.
The second step is monitoring the quality of segregation. If your plastic bin contains too many food scraps, the company can charge an increased fee – in our case, it is as much as 82 PLN per person (double the base rate). We checked this at the source: last month, 12 families received such a warning. One empty paint can thrown into the wrong bag is enough to risk a penalty. Inspectors work from 6:00 AM and look into the bins before loading. This is not a threat; it is a description of a procedure that is already in place.
Finally, the most important thing: the deadline for submitting a new declaration. You have until February 10th if the number of people in your home has changed. If you don't do this, the municipality will calculate the fee based on old data, which at the current rates can be very painful. No fluff – the waste system is now one of the most expensive municipal services. It's worth spending 20 minutes to check your documents. We will continue to keep an eye on the councilors during the next votes on dog and real estate taxes. That's all for today's report.
