DOES CLEVELAND REALLY NEED A GARBAGE TAX?

Submitted by Roldo on Thu, 12/10/2009 - 17:07.

The flow of federal stimulus money into Cleveland makes me wonder why Mayor Frank Jackson and his merry elves at City Council need to burden residents with a garbage tax.

 

City Council members authorized Mayor Jackson to begin collecting $8 a month for garbage collections. Having been elected for four years the Council members (all but three) figured that they had enough time for constituents to get used to paying another regressive tax.

 

And they seem to be getting away with it.

 

However, extra revenue from the federal government is flowing into the city and county. ProPublico has a list and calls it “the most comprehensive publicly available analysis of stimulus spending we know of.”

 

In one grant, Cleveland will get $11,793,750 for law enforcement. That suggests to me that a lot of city money is being freed up.

 

ProPublico, a journalism in the public interest reporting site, has listed all grants and loans to Cuyahoga County. It can be found here: http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/locale/ohio/cuyahoga

 

Other grants to the city of Cleveland include grants of $10,554,939 and $5,768,717 for airport improvements. And $6,409,225 for Community Development Block Grant money. Not sure if the latter is the regular allotment for CDBG money that ordinarily comes to the city. Another $5 million grant is listed for law enforcement equipment.

 

RTA (Regional Transit Authority) also has grants allocated of $23,429,203 for capital and operating funds and $10,164,215 for rehabbing rail stations. It makes you wonder whether the cuts RTA is making are totally necessary. Here’s a link to an RTA fund: http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/item/43293

 

The City of Cleveland also will get $9.8 million to deal with problems of homelessness.

 

There are some strange loans, at least in my opinion. A number of Dunkin Donut businesses will get more than $500,000 in loans as will other food outlets.

 

Other big winners in these grants are Case-Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland State University.

 

 

 

‹ DOES ATLANTIC CITY HAVE A MESSAGE FOR OHIO VOTERSupDOES EVEN JIMMY DIMORA DESERVE HIS RIGHTS? ›
( categories: )

Economic stimulus funds

Submitted by lmcshane on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 09:08.

 Thanks Roldo--

Great site:

http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/locale/ohio/cuyahoga

The questions pile up and we get no answers.*  I would also like to know why the priority of the federal Neighborhood Stabilization monies awarded to Cleveland are ALL allocated to DEMOLITION $9,380,000 (2009) and $4,690,00 (2010). 

You would think that the City would want to encourage at least SOME development that generated tax dollars for the City???? 
 

(PD picked the 27Coltman developer as community hero...in 2009!  PD deletes any comments I try to post on the irony of this development subsidized by the POOR!).

*I am also still waiting (since his election)for a response from Brian Cummins on how he plans to spend his Neighborhood Development Allocation/CDBG funds...it has typically been $400,000 a year.  Cimperman got his answer out in 24 hours...as I said...it's not brain surgery..and we have a right to know.  I sent a public records request for the information to the City of Cleveland Law department in November 2009 and never received a response.

(BTW--for the curious-CSU, Tri-C and CWRU appear to be the protected witness holding tanks for the low level operative folks...Carroll at Tri-C, Sideras at CWRU, Bruckman is at CSU...)

Out of curiousity

Submitted by lmcshane on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 10:07.

Who voted AGAINST the garbage fee? 

BTW, what job have they lined up for Santiago??

Take a look at some of these "hand-outs" (your money folks)

 

GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY $1,396,830.00 Grant ARRA Rail and Transit Security Grant Program American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Rail and Tr Federal Emergency Management Agency 7/31/2009
CLEVELAND, CITY OF $11,793,750.00 Grant The COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies to hire or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs, and to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts Department of Justice 7/01/2009

Stimulus funding

Submitted by Gone Fishin on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 20:31.

Wow,,,, the list of stimulus money is unreal. 

Threats of layoffs for RTA and Safety Forces, increased sewer and RTA fees, elimination of RTA routes, and trash collection charges with this amount of money pouring into this area just does not add up.   

Against Fees

Submitted by skd0333 on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 11:43.

Dona Brady, Marty Keane, Zak Reed.

What's the source?

Submitted by robpitingolo on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 12:06.

"RTA (Regional Transit Authority) also has grants allocated of $23,429,203 for capital and operating funds and $10,164,215 for rehabbing rail stations."

What's the source on the 23 million?

Rob:

Submitted by Roldo on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 15:15.

The list is part of the federal stimulus allocations, as identified by ProPublico, an effort to do investigative journalism. I believe if you look at the list as linked there might be a source of the funding.

Garbage

Submitted by lmcshane on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 17:16.

  Thanks Kate for providing the information on who voted against--Keane, Brady and Reed--it was buried in today's PD (PD jeers them!?) along with the Port Authority approving first phases of a lakefront plan and other goodies...

Do you have any idea what the plan is for Santiago, Bruckman et al.?  Lipovan has been farmed out to Lake County.  Is that the plan??  Where's Merle Gordon, too?  You seem to have the inside track.

 

Windfall

Submitted by lmcshane on Sun, 12/13/2009 - 10:22.

It's Christmas, afterall!

SEE also:
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/12/three_northeast_ohio_projects.html

Grant to raze blighted homes

Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) - Friday, December 11, 2009
Author: Laura Johnston, Plain Dealer Reporter
 
Edition: Final
Section: Metro
Page: B3
Record Number: MERLIN_8332049
Copyright, 2009, The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank with Permission.
 

...The flow of federal monies will have the entire city center cleared in no time a la the Detroit/Greektown model, so we can start the urban plantation and wineries needed to supply the six annointed/gated NPI neighborhoods of choice and the landed gentry (a la Bloomfield Hills/Grosse Point) securely sequestered as far away as possible from the common folks!

garbage can fee

Submitted by westward on Sun, 01/24/2010 - 23:50.

The PeeDee is reporting that the city intends to enforce a law already on the books. The law tells us how long prior to collection that the trash can go to the curb, and then after collection, how soon the trash can must be off the curb, or tree lawn. Tickets will be given to offenders, and the cost is $75. It is not about the money, according the story. I have to ask then what the hell is it about? How many years have residents had to put up with landlords cleaning out apartments 5-6 days before the next collection, dumping piles of furniture and trash on the tree lawns before retiring to their suburban homes?  Over the years, I have had to pick up trash when neighbors did not even bag their trash, and the trash collectors did not bother to use that broom and dustpan on their trucks. Will residents who are now being taxed again for trash pick up demand that the trash collectors use the brooms when they spill the trash, and will the city track down the absentee landlords who feel that the city is garbage, so that it is ok to just dump stuff days in advance? Or will the city stick a ticket in the mailbox of a vacant house?

Will residents who have an emergency that takes them away on collection day return home to a ticket when they have been good citizens?