I don't have a problem paying for trash p/u..... what I have a problem with is having to pay for it and being told that my "trash" is on one day and can only be put in a small can furnished by the city, and on another day is "recycle" pick up, and again I'm given a small can furnished by the city..... in addition, in my neighbor hood the trash man/recycle man drives a truck that has an electronic arm of sort to pick the can up, there's no manual labor, AND not only does it NOT get all the trash out of the can it tends to spill some trash on road as well..... what can we do about that?! yep, not a durn thing but bend over and take it while praying they use a lubricant....

I, as well as many other people, have the small trash and recycling containers which are half the size of the large ones. We should be getting charged half the regular fee instead of the full fee.

If you're concerned about $20 a month, you can't afford to go on vacation! Besides that, why would you want to "suspend" services when you're on vacation? All this is doing is announcing to the world that you are going to be gone. Might as well leave your front door open when you leave....

I have to wonder if banks/foreclosure institutions actually waste that $20 per month, per house in foreclosure? Doesn't CPS have a special deal for them, since the property is clearly vacant, and the electricity is only on for showings? I've only been here for about a year and a half, but when we moved here, and still had our old house in another city, the trash service was included in our water bill. I was able to suspend trash pick-up, while keeping the water on for a few months until I was sure we didn't need to go back up there for anything. And yes, there are a lot of people who travel - or vacation - for several months at a time. Especially here in Texas. Lots of people go to places where it's cooler for the summer. My parents are a perfect example. Every year, in early to mid May, they pack up their motorhome and head to a small town in Colorado. They usually stay there the entire summer and don't come home until the beginning of October. When they were still school teachers, they'd leave the day after school let out, and come home about a week before school started - just enough time for them to see their doctors for any issues, get fresh hair cuts, eye exams and such before having to go back to school. They are retired now, which is why they stay gone much longer. Most of their services remain active while they are gone, mainly because of high suspend/reactivation fees.

Solid waste billing and payment is permanently linked to CPS CEO Doyle Beneby's direct deposit banking account, they failed to mention that.

As much as it sucks, its not any different that insurance (assuming you have insurance), or daycare (assuming you have children in daycare), or taxes (assuming you own property)...... you pay for it whether you use the service or not. If everything in this world were pay-as-you-need-it, then the cost for those services would skyrocket in order to cover down times, and if they (the owner or such service) did not do their accounting correctly, many places would go out of business. Obviously CPS wouldn't be one of those businesses. I'm on your side, but this is the reality as I see it.

I misunderstood, Carmelos. I thought you meant meter the trash pick up. I believe some cities weigh the garbage and bill accordingly. To me that sounds fair, but also sounds like a big pain in the rear to implement.

My children are grown and on their own. Why can't I call and get my school district taxes suspended? Oh, because public education benefits society as a whole you say? Too bad you missed out on that. So the reason I can't call and cancel solid waste service is that the truck has to come down my street anyway whether or not my container is out. Think about what life would be like without trash pick up. $20 a month is an unbelievably good deal.

It happens also with water usage...I have a rental house and when it's vacant, I still get charged for water...I guess the city and the other services need the extra cash to pay out those bonuses!!!

Not sure where you call home twister but CPS installed the new meters (not a choice for us)on the homes in my subdivision about a year ago (scratch one job - meter reading - no longer required by CPS). They automatically "phone home" your electrical usage to CPS. As the report stated, the trash pickup is tied in with the electrical usage so unless you live without electricity foer the entire time of your "extended" staycation their would be charges against your account which kick in the trash pickup, that is how meter reading negares the use your neighbors bi ploy.