An industry spokeswoman says the governor's trash tax hike will end up hitting state residents hardest. Promoted by advocates as a way to decrease the tonnage of out-of-state trash flowing to Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle's budget would increase the state's tipping fee from three dollars to six dollars. Lynn Morgan is Waste Management , a major player in the waste hauling business. "Of the $32 that would be raised by the taxes that were approved last week, only about $6 million would come from out of state landfill users," said Morgan.
Still, we might accept that deal, if the higher tax actually kept more refuse from places like Illinois and Minnesota out of Wisconsin landfills. Don't bet on it, said Morgan: "when a three dollar a ton tax was imposed back in 2002, it had no effect on out of state waste." The fee increase cleared the Joint Finance Committee last week.
