[SIZE="5"]The City of Saint John has approved a user-pay system for garbage collection in an attempt to lower both tax rates and the amount of trash taken to the landfill.

But it's not a done deal that the fee-per-garbage-bag move will proceed.

Saint John Common Council on Monday night gave the thumbs-up to the policy switch, which would involve moving away from having residents pay for collection services through their property taxes.

However, councillors have also given themselves an opportunity to dump the option this summer.

Coun. Chris Titus is endorsing the idea of moving to the user-pay method, arguing it would save $4 million from the city budget for solid waste, would reduce the tax rate and help cut back on landfill waste.

"It's the most fair, and equitable and transparent system for solid waste and it has the advantage of making people recognize the cost associated with solid waste," Titus said.

"They can be masters of their own destiny."

But Saint John Mayor Ivan Court said he doesn't think that poorer people in Saint John can handle the new fees and wants to maintain the existing system.

"The reason is, it's for the common good. The reason is, we use property tax as a way of guaranteeing most people a quality of life and the rich don't get richer and the poor get poorer," he said.

Paul Groody, the city's commissioner of municipal operations, is cautioning the council from adopting the proposal too quickly.

Groody said he will bring back the business case for the change in June, offering the council an additional chance to opt out of the new system.

Groody said, however, that he believes people will be more selective in what they throw out if they are forced to pay by the bag.

"In my heart of hearts, I think if it's user pay, people are going to watch what we throw out, and they're going to be diligent about their solid waste," Groody said.[/SIZE]

看来也只好收费了。

现在在自家门口扔多少垃圾都可以，但是多伦多等地早就实行限量，就是只有4袋规定尺寸以下的垃圾可以免费，超过4袋的，要收钱。据说还有人发现邻居垃圾少，就把自己的放到邻居那里，引发口水战。

还是这帮工会保护的垃圾工，工资太高，福利太好。要是能让我干这活，我宁可不要现在这份工作。