I got all hopeful this week when I saw the city council agenda included an item on the garbage tax fee. Could it finally be that the council is going to do away with this not-so-hidden tax on Peoria residents?

Don’t be ridiculous. They’re just going to change the collection of it from $24 three times a year to $6 a month. Illinois American Water charges the city 80 cents per bill to collect this fee on behalf of the city, which is why the city was “only” collecting it three times a year. Now the water company has agreed to charge 20 cents per bill, allowing the city to collect the fee monthly at no additional cost.

There are a couple ways of looking at this. On the one hand, it will be nice having the fee spread out, I guess. On the other hand, it’s a little too nice — a little too hidden. This fee is outrageous in a city that collects as much in property taxes, HRA taxes, gas taxes, and miscellaneous fees as Peoria does. Not to mention the fact that even with all that income, they can’t fully staff all their fire stations.

It’s good for us all to have that three-time-per-year reminder of how outrageous it is so that we’ll keep the pressure on the council to get rid of it. The garbage tax fee was one of the reasons we ousted the old mayor and two council representatives last election. It’s a regressive tax, and it’s a double tax since garbage collection is supposed to be covered under our property taxes already. The “new” council should be looking for ways to get rid of the fee, not ways to make it more palatable for residents.