This page was last updated on April 14, 2010.
Garbage heap; Editorial; Beaver County Times; April 14, 2010.
First, “tipping fee” is a misnomer. It is a tax on top of what customers pay to have their trash hauled away.
Second, the editorial tells us, “Almost half of the garbage dumped in the commonwealth is shipped in from other states, which means that out-of-state residents would have picked up half of the tab for improvements taking place in Pennsylvania.” This is almost exactly what “Starting point” (2/2/05) said. This position appears to be either an example of economic naïveté or an attempt to deceive. Here’s why. The Times wants us to believe more than doubling the tipping tax will have no effect on PA’s garbage business. Remember, we’re told the push for high taxes on tobacco and now “sugary” drinks is to cut consumption. If high taxes on these products will cut consumption, why wouldn’t high taxes on garbage dumping result in behavior change, like switching to garbage dumps elsewhere, especially by out-of-state customers?
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