Great another 5% increase when inflation = 0%. This and PWB and tuition and medical care keep going up without reason, however, not salaries and jobs.

"Higher costs for landfill disposal and increased fuel and equipment costs." I wonder what will be their excuse when they go to bi-weekly garbage pickup with foodwaste composting and then raise the rates?

I love the "lower-emission trucks." Whenever government fleeces you nowadays, it's always to be "green" and "sustainable."

With apologies to John Wooden, far too many voters in PDX confuse bureaucratic activity with achievement.

Just wait 'til the city picks up your garbage every other week. The "savings" just won't stop ...

According to this, the operations at the Central Transfer stations are holding their rates constant through 2010 (this affects the wholesale rates that the franchise collectors are charged to empty their trucks). That leave's the city's claim about the disposal rates very questionable.

Have fuel prices gone up from a year ago?

And I thought that the main purpose of that mailing was to tell people that they aren't in the trial area for putting food scraps in the yard debris bin.

As Steve points out, government is the only sector that is mysteriously experiencing inflation.

As a resident of the flat part of the West Side, I gratefully accept your warm and heartfelt thanks for the subsidy.

I'm waiting for the day when we have no garbage service-totally green, and what their excuse will be to raise the rates again.

Jack -

Have fuel prices gone up since last year?

No, the bio diesel is still $ 7.50 a gallon.

Thank you Randy, another demonstration of your genius.

The city likes to play Monopoly. This is like the Baltic Ave payment.

They are so good at "a little here and there" from the people.

It all adds up to how much?

Let us not forget Adams is a master at this if not at other matters.

As I recall, he wanted to put a LID on an entire area in SW. We are not free of his agenda.

Sometimes they play on the expensive side, Park Ave. with hotels. Remember how we used to breathe a sigh of relief if one could skate by those without paying? In real life, we hope we the citizens can skate by this council's doings without going bankrupt.

One way to save money, not that that is really the goal, would be to drop yard debris pickup to once a month during late fall and all of winter. Aside from fallen leaves, is there any substantive yard debris that is produced in the winter months? We rarely put out our yard debris bin after Halloween.

Then again, I'd like to see weekly service during the summer, but that ain't going to happen.

Those of us who followed the 'best advice' over the past 30 years are now to be punished.

We had reduced our garbage to a 25-gallon can once a week. Because of the nature of the materials going into the garbage can, I prefer weekly pickup.

When they introduced mixed recycleables (which I opposed), they also provided carts for both recycleables and yard debris. Did I ask for these? No.

I use the yard debris container rarely, because more of my yard debris goes into the composters I have obtained over the years at the advice of Metro. I recently added chickens into the mix and found I could handle even more of my compostables right on site (a substandard lot in SE).

So...They switched me to fortnightly garbage pickup with alternating fortnightly pickup of mixed recycleables. Now, instead of fortnightly pickup of yard debris, which I was using rarely, if at all, I'll get it weekly, and am being encouraged to place my kitchen scraps in with the yard debris. This is the "pilot project". When I asked why, I was told it was to reduce the number of large trucks plying city streets. Hey...I can do the math, shuffling it like that ain't gonna reduce any truck mileage.

So...I have had my garbage service cut in half without a reduction in charge. They increas the service on something I basically don't even use. Now, they tell me that they are raising my charges.

The bastards. I should get a bonus deduction for each can I do NOT put out at the street. Instead, we have a government protected monopoly screwing over the public by punishing those who were naive enough to believe that following their advice would reduce our costs.

Godfrey--this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Several years ago we had a drought and were forbidden to wash our cars or water our lawns. Most everbody obeyed (those who didn't were narked on by their neighbors) and we didn't run out of water. And then that fall the water bureau announced, "Since you all didn't use enough water, we didn't get enough revenue, so we're raising your rates."

Why does the city bite the hand that feeds it?

Because they can.