DumpPMUA site mentioned in Courier News on March 22, 2009.

 

Click here to read the article.

 

An article published in the Courier News has brought additional attention to our efforts to hold the PMUA accountable to the community it serves. THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE BUT WE WILL CERTAINLY USE THE PUBLICITY TO BRING REFORM TO PMUA! Our purpose is to use existing rules and regulations or to help create appropriate rules and regulations to ensure that the PMUA has some boundaries. Those boundaries are imperative since the PMUA has the authority to place a lien on your home for nonpayment. Our goal is not to hurt the hard workers of the PMUA who are serving the community. Many of them know first hand that some of their fellow employees and superiors need to be held accountable.

 

Shared Service Fees

From Courier - (Watson addressed such fees in his letter. For more than a decade, he explained, the PMUA has received a fixed annual payment of $1.2 million from the city to compensate for waste management services including the collection and disposal of garbage and recyclables from municipal properties, vegetative waste disposal, illegal dumping cleanup, and other services. Shared-service fees collected from residents add $3 million to that fund, but even that $4.2 million total falls well short of the $7 million cost estimate Watson quoted for 2008 — a breakdown of almost $20,000 per day, but one Watson described as "far less expensive than that if the city contracted with a private hauler or what the city would be faced to pay ... if it provided these services for itself.")

Our Analysis - Mr. Watson should read the INTERLOCAL SERVICE AGREEMENT and PMUA's 2006 Audit Report which indicate that "shared services" do not total more than $163,000 for the year. Aside from the legality of PMUA collecting money for PUBLIC PLACES, it looks like PMUA is using these fees to cover other costs (take a look at Mr. Watson's comments on the PMUA website). PMUA is acting as a taxing authority rather than a municipal utilities authority.

 

Mr. Watson should get his figures accurate before posting conflicting information. According to PMUA's 2009 budget, PMUA anticipates 2009 revenues for solid waste totaling $11,495,209. What does Mr. Watson mean when he says, "A more realistic estimate of the cost to collect and dispose of the volume of garbage generated throughout Plainfield in 2008 was close to $7 million dollars, with an offset by about $3 million from the Shared Service fees paid by all property owners."??? That would leave almost $4.4 million unaccounted for. Where is the money really going? We thought the shared services fees were for the parks and downtown public cans! Is he now saying that the shared services fees collected are to OFFSET the other costs?

 

It is more important than ever to use the momentum we have to talk to our neighbors. We need to work block by block to inform all residents beginning in our own neighborhoods and then expanding beyond our neighborhoods. If you are interested in serving as a liaison on your block, please contact us at 908-998-2751. WE HOPE TO SEE MORE RESIDENTS AT THE NEXT PMUA MEETING!

 

Contact us for information on how to get things started in your neighborhood. Change may come slowly, but the more of us that get involved the faster it will come.

 

We encourage you to read the article and make comments on the Courier News website.