Letter: Other places give break to snowbirds

Thursday, May 18, 2006 | 7:31 a.m.

The Sun's May 3 editorial ("No reprieve from trash cost - a break for seasonal residents on cost of garbage service would not be practical or fair") and Tom Collins' remarks on May 2 regarding trash costs indicate a lack of sympathy and understanding.

U.S. Census Bureau data show "more than 24,200 homes in Clark County, in the year 2000, were vacant because they were seasonal, recreational or occasional properties."

The majority of snowbirds are senior citizens on fixed incomes; their costs need to be kept as fixed as possible. Owning a rental home, currently vacant, I am forced to pay Republic Services even though there is no trash there. Republic Services bills for services people do not need, especially since they don't generate trash, and look what happens!

The May 2 article in the Sun states that Republic "rakes in nearly $830,000 over the summer - months when most of those seasonal homes are empty - thanks to the county's laws." The crux of the issue to Republic Services - free money!

The Review-Journal creates a vacation-stop list for its delivery route people, so why can't Republic Services give its drivers a list of those homes on their routes scheduled to be vacant? Two-way radios could be used between drivers and the dispatcher as another way to communicate this information.

Phoenix is a city that has seasonal rates and I am sure there are others. My neighbor notes that our phone company offers absentee rates, as does the Internet provider. The satellite company simply turns the system off and turns it back on when someone returns.

Why not Republic? Just look at the nearly $830,000 it "raked in" and you have the answer!

Ralph Starita, Logandale