Philadelphians live in one of the most highly taxes cities in the nation, but even they have managed to escape a "fee" that Fort Wayne residents must pay:
Mayor Nutter yesterday trashed the controversial sanitation fee that his administration had been considering to help close a massive budget shortfall.
[. . .]
The idea of generating revenue through a trash fee was first floated several weeks ago by Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities Rina Cutler.
Cutler first said that the city was considering a $5 flat rate per household. Then last week, she said that due to negative feedback over the flat rate, the city was considering a small household fee based on income coupled with a weekly per-bag charge.
One story noted that "opponents say it is absurd to charge a fee for such an essential service," which sort of misses the point. People are already paying for it through their taxes, even if it isn't individualized as a specific fee. Politicians like to make a distinction between a general tax, or money collected from everyone that can be spent on anything; and a fee, a specific amount charged for and spent on a specific task. But sometimes it's a distinction without much of a difference. One thing that makes a fee attractive to politicians and harmful to those paying it is that it is removed from the normal voting procedures that must accompany tax increases. If they want to raise a fee, they just go ahead and do it.
I still think Fort Wayne's institution of the "trash fee" without a corresponding reduction is one of the greatest stealth tax increase I've ever seen, at least on the local level. Paul Helmke, who was mayor at the time, should get a special award for political sleight-of-hand.
